Switched!
by Rabid Ghosts
Summary: [AU] Chloe Saunders was grumpy werewolf and her life was pretty dull until Derek, a bumbling oaf of a necromancer, got chucked into Lyle House with them.
1. Chapter 1

Switched!

One

Meeting Derek

* * *

March 3, 2010

7:30 AM

Wednesday

* * *

"There's a new kid coming today," Liz announced loudly to Tori as she dropped onto the bed. "Derek Souza," she read from the stolen file, "age sixteen, height six-foot-five, and weight two hundred pounds." Her golden eyebrows arched in surprise. "Schizophrenic since, wow, five. Deceased mother, unknown father. Adopted by Kit Bae."

"Yeah. He's a dork, and so is Simon. We kind of think his dad's Zachary Cain," Tori said.

"Zachary Cain?" I asked, lurching around the corner.

Liz screamed.

Tori jumped. "God damn it, Chloe. We get that you've got predator instinct but do you _really _have to scare us like that?" she said.

I ignored her.

"Zachary Cain is New York's most infamous serial killers," I told them in a dull tone.

Blank stares.

"He's killed over fifty people, men, women, children. He's on Death Row. They made that movie based on him with Brad Pitt and Jamie Lee Curtis. _Cultivator, _directed by Jonah Eriksson."

_More _blank stares.

Realizing my breath was wasted on them, I turned and walked away.

As I made my way down the stairs, I heard a voice call out, "Chloe!" I turned to find Simon standing in the doorway, grinning at me. His blonde hair looked orange in the light of the sunset.

"Hi."

"Does he know what he is?" I asked, glancing up the boy's side of the stairs. "Yeah. We need to find our

"Yeah. We need to find our dad though." A frown grew across his sharp face.

"Simon?" asked a confused voice. The guy who came down the steps was three heads taller than me, around six-foot. He was broad, too, and muscular. His ink-black hair was pulled back into a ponytail and his green eyes were confused. His face was plagued with acne and scars from popping zits. His grey hoodie had a faded school logo on it and the bottoms of his jeans dragged on the ground.

"Who's—" He was asking until tripped and nearly plowed into me; thank God for werewolf strength. Had I been a necromancer I would've been squished under him.

"Chloe, Derek," Simon said, gesturing from me to the clumsy oaf. "Derek—"

I was already walking away, my stomach growling lowly but Simon yanked me back, "this is Chloe, my best friend. She's one of us."

Derek lowered his voice. "A Super?"

"We prefer Paranormal Americans," I deadpanned and Simon giggled into his hand. Derek's green, green eyes met mine as I crossed my arms over my chest and I felt his eyes sweep over me. "Now that you're done checking me for bar-codes, can I go get Tori before—son of a bitch, speak of the Devil and she shall appear."

Rae had popped out of the rec room and was eyeballing Derek. "Hi, Simon," she said in a sickly voice that made me want to vomit and maybe claw my ears off. "_Hello,_" she purred to the other brother.

At the top of the stairs on the girl's side, Tori gagged behind Rae's back. "Oh, Rae! You've met Chloe's boyfriend!" she called down and the look I shot her could've fried the dead.

Derek went adorably, I have to admit it, red and stuttered furiously. It was quite amusing to a boy of his stature and intimidating aura stutter like a six-grade girl.

"Slap him on the back, Simon," Tori sighed as she climbed down the steeps in her high, platform boots.

Derek gave her a half-assed scowl.

I was impressed a chump like him could _even _scowl.

"Why don't you lay off, Tori?" Rae hissed, flashing long, glued-on eyelashes coated in layers of mascara.

I rolled my eyes and walked away from the drama that was about to unfold undoubtedly.

* * *

5:30 PM

* * *

It was as I was peeling carrots, after admittedly nicking my fingers a few times, which Royce decided to sneak up on me. The minute he stepped out of his room, I could smell his god-awful cologne and hear his footsteps. I also heard the _swish _of the kitchen door opening and, knowing he was probably a few feet behind me.

I whipped around, holding the knife as a weapon.

Royce swallowed and his Adam's apple bobbed against the knife tip.

"Hey—woah, what's going on?"

Just what I need. Clumsy Giant.

Royce smiled that dangerous smile that girls had fallen for left and right and said, "Just a little fun with my girlfriend."

Derek's eyes met mine. "B-boyfriend?"

"Nope." I swung the knife back towards the carrots I was peeling and it hit home in the board with a thunk. "He's just a prick."

"I love you too, hunny," he cooed and went to kiss me.

I held up the knife again. "If you want to keep your lady bits, go away now."

He scuttled away like the rat he was.

"So…he's not your boyfriend?" Was it just me or did this geek sound a bit…hopeful? "No."

"No." _That's it, Chloe. Run off the only kid who might be interested in you, _Nadia, my Wolf, mused.

I ignored her.

_He smells _divine, sang Nadia as we inhaled his scent.

**Touché, **I replied as I carried on with peeling carrots. "Do you need something?" I asked as he stared at me.

"N-no," he answered quietly and the door swished behind him as he walked away.

"Way to go," Tori drawled as she hopped up on the counter, snatching up a freshly peeled carrot. She took a bite. "Fresh from the rabbit farm," she laughed.

_Although _you _don't smell so _fresh! Nadia said.

**I'll take a shower when I'm done with this, **I told her.

"You just drove off your only love interest in this paranormal romance novel," the witch on the counter said before hopping down.

"I've been meaning to ask you," I said as I turned to her and set down the knife. "Where do get all these book references?"

But the door was swinging shut behind Tori as she clomped upstairs in her monster shoes and I made my way to my room with Rae to shower before dinner.


	2. Chapter 2

Switched!

Two

Mine

* * *

6:00 PM

* * *

Water dripping from my wet hair, I made my way to my room.

"Can you_ believe_ that bitch?" Rae asked in disgust as she admired her breasts in the mirror, pushing them up, looking this way and that, trying to figure out the best angle.

I made a grunting sound and hoped she'd drop the subject.

"I mean, _first_ she steals _Royce _from me and now the new guy!" she griped as she wiggled her skirt and flashed black panties at me. "And the _nerve_! I mean, I like you but, no offense, I doubt any guy would go for you." Forgoing the skirt, she pulled on a pair of very short shorts and a crop top that showed off her curvy belly and tramp stamp.

I tried not to take offense. I knew I wasn't much of a looker. I was about five-feet solid, flat as a board with even fewer curves and the only thing going for me was my werewolf genes.

_Can I _please _bite her? _Begged Nadia, pawing at my mind.

**No, **I told her firmly.

_Why? _she whined.

**Because she'll burn down the entire damn house, that's why! **I snapped as I pulled off my towel and began to dry off.

_But she insulted us! _she hissed.

**It's not an insult if it's true, **I pointed out.

She fell silent.

"Maybe if you wore stuff that _actually _fit you," Rae was saying as I squeezed the water out of my hair, standing there in my little girl panties and bra. I shot her a glare.

"Hey, I'm just trying to help."

"Don't need it," I growled back, lip curling.

She shrugged, gave me the stink-eye look, and slinked away.

When she slammed the door, I turned to the mirror and examined myself.

I was thin, like a little girl, even though I ate everything in sight; you could still see my ribs with every breath. I was short, too, not even five foot, and about as busty as a six-year-old. My hair was long and pin-straight, falling mid-back, my eyes, I'd been told but couldn't really see it, resembled the clear blue sky, and my skin was paler than eggshells.

"Chloe—"

I looked over my shoulder and saw Derek, his mouth gaping open at the sight of me in my underthings, his face turning brighter than a tomato. I snorted. "Out."

He slammed the door with a squeaked, stuttered, "I'msorry!" His footsteps pounded down the hall and I picked up my hair.

It gleamed strawberry blonde, just like my mother's. I shook off those thoughts and picked up a bulky sweater and baggy jeans.

Time to hunt down Derek.

* * *

6:00 PM

* * *

I found him in the laundry room, following his unmistakable scent.

Nadia was growling, pacing—waiting for something, sensing something the human side of me couldn't. I didn't see him at first but, as I pushed open the door, I saw that familiar blonde hair and flannel shirt and my mood matched Nadia's.

"Malloy," I growled.

He whipped around and his smile fell; Derek's frightened green eyes met mine.

"Hey, there, Chlo," Malloy said with a laugh, thick, Southern twang dripping through his croaky voice.

Anger spiked through me when I saw his hand on Derek's chest, pinning the boy to the wall.

Nadia snarled in the back of my mind, vicious, angry.

"Let him go," I hissed and he laughed in my face, spittle flying. I curled my hands into fists to keep myself rooted there, on the ground and not sailing at him.

"Looks like the bitch thinks she's found a mate!" he guffawed, shoving Derek hard.

I strode up to him and grabbed his wrist, yanking him away from the green-eyed boy.

He stumbled, his grey eyes livid. "Don't you _fucking _touch—"

"Get _out_," I gritted out and he reluctantly did as he was told, throwing insults about my appearance over his shoulder.

"T-thank you," Derek gasped out, rubbing his chest. His face was pinched, like he was in pain and, when he pulled back the collar of his shirt, I saw a red handprint on his chest.

"Are you stupid?" I snapped when he looked down at me. Something in his eyes hardened. "

Something in his eyes hardened. "N-no—" he began but I cut him off.

"_Obviously, _you are. You let Malloy get you in here _alone_, let him push you around. Someone won't always be around to save your sorry ass," I said.

His jaw clenched and a muscle in his temple jumped as he looked away. "I d-di-didn't ask for y-your help," he bit out, the stuttering rubbing out all the effect of his reply.

I snorted and the scowl on my face deepened as I glowered up at him.

"I-I didn't l-let him push me ar—"

Again, I interrupted him. "No. You just let him put his hands on you, mark you up. You let him say whatever the hell comes out of his perverted mouth."

Derek's nostrils flared as his eyes lit up but he didn't say anything.

"He w-was t-ta-talking about you," he said when I started to walk away.

"Yeah, well, that's nothing new."

"He w-was also t-talking about me, too. Y-you and m-me," Derek called.

My curiosity spiked and, against my better judgment, I turned. "What did the little rat bastard say?" I demanded.

He looked away, biting his lip in an adorable way.

"S-said s-something about n-nee-eeding to watch your back," he muttered, refusing to meet my eyes. I could smell the guilt radiating off him. His heart was racing fast and he was sweating furiously.

"That's nothing new," I said again, my lip curling up in a snarl.

"O-oh." Derek's head bowed down and his hair shifted, covering his grass-green eyes. I knew he was hiding something but, hearing the clumping of Talbot's heavy crocks on the stairs, I hurried out and calmly slid passed her.

I could hear her asking Derek, in her sweet voice, "Do you know how to use the washer machine, sweetie?"

"No," was his reply.

I swore I felt someone watching me but, when I turned, I saw nothing, no one. **Nadia?**

_I'm here. _

**I think he might be our, uh, you know.  
**

Nothing. And then, _Yeah. _


	3. Chapter 3

Switched!

Three

Strike One||Bruises

* * *

March 10, 2010

8:00 AM

Wednesday

* * *

I steered clear Derek for about a week.

His uncle, a Doctor Andrew Carson, picked him up every Thursday.

Rae was bitchy as ever, slamming every shot at Tori when the witch (quite literally, mind you) wasn't around. It was grating on the last fibers of my nerves.

"And _then_," she was saying as she brushed out her long hair, perfume burning my sensitive nostrils.

"Rae?" I growled, Nadia itching to Influence (that's where a werewolf's Wolf takes over the body) and maybe rip that mouth right off the copper-haired girl.

"Yeah?" Rae said, looking up at me in the mirror.

I looked pissed off, to be quite frank. "Shut the hell up."

Her mouth dropped and she sputtered, her eyes wide as I stalked out, slamming the door hard.

I knew telling her that was going to come back and bite me in the ass but I couldn't care less; I was on edge already for not being able to Change and Derek was driving my senses crazy.

I lingered on the stairs.

"S-so I-I wa-was wondering—" Derek's voice drifted out near the front door and his sweet, clean scent invaded my lungs; it mingled with the sour stench of blood and too much cologne.

His uncle, a paunchy, polo-wearing man, was there, his arms crossed over his chest as his eyes fluttered about, looking for trouble.

Derek leaned against the doorframe, slumped slightly, staring down at Carson almost nervously. "—If you could bring me my ring."

The human blinked when he saw me but didn't say anything; I could smell the distrust vibes waving off him from a mile.

Derek looked up, too, and his eyes met mine.

I stared back at him, wordless.

"Is this a friend of yours, Derek?" Carson asked in a tight voice; he was perspiring with nervousness.

I made him nervous, which wasn't that hard to do; even the dumbest humans knew I wasn't normal, that I was a predator, on some subconscious level and I made them wary.

"O-oh," my mate—Derek, I mean—squeaked and said, "This is Chloe."

"Nice to meet you, Chloe. I'm Derek's uncle, Andrew."

I ignored the weathered hand he stretched out in greeting and stared at Derek for a little longer before I turned and walked away; I could hear snippets of Carson warning his nephew to stay away from me.

Too bad we'd end up doing the exact opposite.

* * *

6:30 PM

* * *

Dinner consisted of healthy, rice-and-chicken-and-cheese casserole and whole-wheat rolls, served with skim milk. For dessert, we were promised sherbet. Oh joy.

Rae made a jibe at how much I was eating (enough to rival a grown man's appetite) but I shot her a glower and she turned her hostility on, unsurprisingly, Tori.

The bickering was getting on my nerves, to be blunt. My headache was severe and I couldn't concentrate; I felt sick.

"Will you two shut the fuck up for once?" I barked out as Rae went to make a jibe about Tori's breast size.

She turned to me, eyes blazing. "Oh, _I'm sorry. _Was I interrupting itty bitty little Chloe's meal?" She mockingly batted her eyelashes.

"Rae, knock it off," Simon said loudly.

"Stay out of this, Simon!" she snarled, narrowing her eyes at him. Her dark lips pulled up at the corner in a sneer as she reached forward in a quick movement and, within the blink of an eye, overturned her drink all over Simon.

Liz gasped loudly as she rocked backwards, her eyes wide.

Tori hissed lowly. "You're so fucking dead!" She made to lurch at Rae but Simon wrapped his hand around his sister's wrist, shaking his head.

Rae smiled like she won something and I opened my mouth, to tell her off but Derek, surprisingly, beat me to it.

"Y-you're a r-real bitch, y-you know that?" he stammered but the anger was there, sharp and vibrant. "Y-you think y-you're _so _great, so better than the rest of us b-but news flash: you're just as fucked up as us! Y-you s-sit there and b-berate everyone else l-like you have a-any right to when y-your i-in here too," he said.

"And what about Chloe?" Rae bit out and turned to me as I scooped up the last of the forgotten casserole.

"What about me?" I asked dryly, spearing a chunk of chicken on my fork.

"She broke someone's back!" she spat and a chill swept through me.

"I-I k-know," Derek whispered.

"She's nothing but a monster!"

"I know," I sneered as I turned towards Rae. "But so is everyone here. Everyone here is a menace, especially you, Rae. You get so angry and you don't _who _you hurt to get your way. You're no better than me."

"At least I didn't nearly kill someone twice!"

Her words slammed right through that tender spot in my chest and I struggled to breathe.

Nadia whined. _I'm sorry. _

**Not your fault. **

I continued eating.

"A bunch of morons," Rae spat and stalked away before Miss Wang came downstairs. She deamanded to know what happened, but none of us answered her. She noticed Simon's wet shirt and sent him upstairs.

Tori and Liz left to go have therapy.

Derek glanced down at me as I ate like the world wasn't crashing around me and I wasn't on the verge of exploding myself.

The casserole was delicious.

* * *

7:30 PM

* * *

I knew something was up when Derek cornered me in the laundry room as I started the wash.

"C-Chloe?" he asked softly.

I turned as he stepped in, brushing me. "Yeah. What?" I grunted, measuring out the detergent into the cup and pouring it in.

"A-are you o-okay?" He slipped closer, right against my back now.

"Yeah. Fine." I slammed the lid shut and started the wash. "Don't." I crossed my arms.

He looked at me with those green eyes of his, wide and innocent. "D-Do-on't w-what?" he breathed.

"Don't think you need to throw me the sympathy card," I bit out and my anger made his eyes harden.

"I-it's c-ca-alled being considerate!" he snapped.

"Why'd you come here? See if you could get all the gory details?" I hissed. _Chloe, I'm sorry but…he may never walk again. _

Derek stood to his full height, towering above me but I wasn't backing down; he was _just _a damn necromancer who stuttered and tripped over every fucking thing and I was a big, scary, menacing werewolf who could kick his ass anytime.

"N-no." His jaw clenched.

"I-I was t-trying to b-be—"

"Nice, right? Thought if you cuddled up to me, I'd spill all the damn details?" I barked and he flinched away, like I was a monster, like I was going to hit him, like…I was a menace. My resolve hardened. "Why don't you go prance along with your little undead critters and cry about it to mommy?" I sneered.

Something in his eyes changed.

He got mad. Fast.

"Don't you _dare _talk about her!" he snarled and shoved me, hard.

My brain was fuzzy with the frustration being unable to Shift and anger at everyone, at him for making me feel this way, at Rae for being a bitch, at Dad for forgetting about me, at everyone but, mainly, myself. Rae was right; I _was _a menace. How else could someone describe a girl who nearly killed a teenage boy?

Something in my eyes must've scared Derek because he tried to scramble back. "Y-You really a-a-are a-a—"

I lunged at him, fast, strong and he shrieked, scrambling back. "I'm a menace," I sneered. "I'm a monster. An animal to be put down, right? You want to here all the fucking details, don't you?" I kept my voice low and calm; screaming at the dumbass wouldn't help.

"D-don't! I-if you do-don't leave me alone, I'll t-tell the nurses!" he whimpered and a fire curled up in my stomach.

He knew nothing about me.

He knew nothing about the guilt that ate away at me.

He knew nothing about the struggle of being blurred between human and wolf.

Eyes fixed on the door, he shoved passed me and I grabbed his arm, yanking him back. He yelped loudly and I let go of his bicep, watching him slide away the linoleum. Once he stilled, all thoughts of rage flew from my brain. _Is he dead? I_ wondered weakly and then he he pulled himself up, clutching his arm against his chest.

"Derek—" I began but he cut me off by looking away. I stood, unsure of what to The glossy, shell-shocked fear in his eyes, the absolute terror, dragged at my heart. I turned my head away as he sprinted away, his shoulders shakingas he cried.

I kicked the door shut and the walls shuddered viciously.

Sitting against the door, I contemplated how badly I'd fucked up.

On a scale of one to twenty, it was a ninety-nine.


	4. Chapter 4

Switched!

Four

Caution

* * *

March 11, 2010

6:00 AM

Thursday

* * *

Talbot pulled me aside, early in the morning, when I was the only one awake. She stared down into my eyes and said, "You will not interact with Derek, understand?" She sounded harsh and firm.

I nodded in reply. "Yeah. Sure." I stuffed my hands in my pockets as she rattled on and on about "how inappropriate" I was and how I "should be ashamed" of my behavior. It was as she finished up that the door opened and the object of my belittlement came in.

"Derek, why don't you go wait in the kitchen?" Talbot suggested kindly and he nodded mutely; the door slammed behind him. She gave me a firm no nonsense glower before she walked out.

_That was total unjust! _Nadia whined.

I shook my head. **Derek** **hates us. **

_Mate..._

**I almost broke his arm...Rae was right. **

"What happened?"

I looked up to find Rae there, a smirk on her face as she lounged against the doorway.

"Nothing."

Her smug expression wavered and I caught a glimpse of her; she was scared of me.

When I moved to get out the door, she blocked me, glowering down at me.

"Listen, pup," she spat.

"Get out of my way," I growled, feeling Nadia claw to the surface. For a split second, I envisioned biting into Rae's throat, enjoying the screams as my teeth pierced her.

She froze and I shouldered passed her, heading to class.

* * *

March 12, 2010

10:30 AM

Friday

* * *

It was like I was an inmate in a prison facility.

All the nurses kept an eye on me and reported back to Dr. Gil at every break.

It was seriously getting on my frayed nerves; ever since the Laundry Room Incident, I was hyper aware of Derek in my classes.

His smell, like fresh soap and damp soil, freshly tilled, saturated every breath I took; his voice, like low, silky thunder that caressed my mind with every word; his golden skin, smooth and gleaming, made my tongue ache to taste it; his rosy lips, the white teeth that lay beyond them, that little pink tongue, had my mouth throbbing to feel them against mine; his long, black eyelashes highlighted his green eyes, captivating my attention; his messy hair curled at his shoulders urged me to run my fingers through it.

It was driving me insane.

His voice whispered softly, quietly, to Simon and drew my attention during lessons, but Miss Wang never noticed. I took to keeping my head cocked in Derek's direction, where Simon took to giving me looks, curious, but all my focus was on his classmate.

* * *

March 15, 2010

9:00 PM

Monday

* * *

"What happened last night?" Simon demanded when he cornered me while I was taking out the trash a few days later.

I dropped the wheel barrel and crossed my arms. "Nothing," I said dismissively and his face grew dark, stormy.

"Derek came up Tuesday and, shit, he looked ready to piss himself," Simon said.

"Why don't you go ask him?" I snapped, patience wearing thin.

"I saw Talbot take you aside this morning," he told me like it was supposed to magically make me spill, "and Dr. Gil has warned both Derek and me to stay away from you."

"Then you'd better scatter, Simon. Wouldn't want to me caught _with _me," I sneered before I grabbed the wheel barrel handles again and dug into the concrete with my heels.

"Chloe!" he yelled after me.

His voice fell on deaf ears that didn't care.

* * *

March 16, 2016

6:30 AM

Tuesday

* * *

I was surfing the TV channels, trying to find something interesting when I noticed Derek.

He walked into the room and sat down on the old computer. No doubt he knew about the warning from Dr. Gil.

Iwatched him as he rolled up his t-shirt sleeves to his elbows and brushed away his oily hair. His fingers flew over the keyboard, blurs from the speed, and the only sound was the kicking of the keys.

I walked up behind him and peered over his shoulder at the screen. _AR Gurney Janitor Death. _

"Why are you looking that up?"

He jumped in his seat, his knees bumping the desk loudly. He looked down at me and fear flashed across his green eyes.

I stepped back.

"S-S-School p-project," he lied and I could smell the fear, hear his heart beat faster.

"On what?" I pressed, "'People who died at my school'?"

He went red and fidgeted.

I sighed in his ear and headed to the loveseat. The TV was playing shitty reruns of _Pretty Little Liars. _"This show is stupid," I growled under my breath.

"I _love _this show!" Rae gushed from her spot on the couch; just to piss her off, I flipped the channel to _Destination America_, which was playing a new episode of _Arial America. _

"Hey! I was watching that!"

"And you were the only one watching it," I pointed out.

Her face was growing redder and redder; suddenly, it stopped and she smiled a bitchy smile and turned. Her short skirt flashed the underside of her butt as she scampered away.

"What was _that _about?" Tori demanded. I managed to pry my eyes from the screenshot of some trees to look at her. She looked angry, hands on her hips, a very angry, angry beauty queen.

"What?" I asked.

"Rae."

"Don't know. Probably just being Rae," I muttered. "Still looking up the guy you saw?"

Derek's head whipped towards me so fast, I thought he'd give himself whiplash. His eyes were on mine as I casually turned off the TV.

I could hear his short-breathed pants and smell the fear. "I need to go shower." My feet felt heavy as I dragged myself up.

* * *

Dressed in a pair of clean panties and a new bra from Aunt Lauren, I toweled off my hair and eyeballed the red dye Tori snuck in. _It won't matter, _I thought and pulled out the bottle. I squinted. It looked dark, like black but the box said Cherry Red.

It took a few minutes to dye the strips of hair. While I waited, I pulled on an old, worn sweater that smelled like home and a pair of jeans.

"Hurry up!" yelled Rae outside, banging on the door.

I didn't say anything as I followed the directions, squeezed my hair and stared at the red on the towel. Oh well.

"Come on!" she whined and the banging grew louder and louder until I thought she'd break down the door.

Growling, I ripped open the door and shouldered passed her.

"Nice hair, Candy Cane!" she laughed viciously before she slammed the door behind her.

I did the only thing I could think of then.

I flipped her off.


	5. Chapter 5

Switched!

Five

Infection

* * *

March 17, 2010

3:00 AM

Wednesday

* * *

I opened my eyes from a dead sleep as the clock downstairs chimed three times. My skin was boiling and I was soaked in sweat; my hair was cold and wet with it and my sheets stuck to my skin. I managed to push myself upright and took a slow inhale through my nose, smelling Rachelle's artificially sweet soap and the stench of my own body odor.

There was a thrumming ache everywhere in my body. It was like I'd been running far too hard and I was paying the price. Despite the AC on full blast, I was still burning up. Sweat streamed down my face, soaking my hair and my pajamas.

I squinted at the clock, rubbing the sweat rivulets out of my eyes, and saw the time. It was _three _in the morning. Normally, I'd get woken up throughout the early morning hours by a toilet flushing or a car speeding past, being such a light sleeper, but I'd never been pushed awake by such an intense heat or soreness.

Pushing the blankets away, I touched my toes to the cold floor and crossed the room to my dresser. With just enough moonlight coming through the window, I found a pair of clean panties, a tank top, and some loose shorts and headed for the bathroom. Seeing as I was the only person awake, the house was exceptionally quieter than it was during the day, but down on the boys' side I could hear Simon's loud snores and Tori's sleep-talking.

Derek groaned in his sleep, stirred, and then fell back asleep, his breathing evening out, as I stepped into the bathroom. While I flicked on the light and pulled out a clean towel, Peter's video game (he was the only who played video games here) continued on quietly and what I assumed was his DS clattered to the ground but it didn't wake him.

I closed the door behind me and locked it, just in case. Standing in front of the mirror, I stripped down and examined myself, looking for any clues as to why I felt like I'd been beaten with a jackhammer. There weren't any bruises, lumps, discolorations—zilch, nada. My appearance, however, screamed 'sick'. My skin had a waxy sheen to it, despite being covered in sweat, and had a sallow tint; my hair was dark with sweat and the red dye was running; and, as I looked closer, my skin shifted and warped. I stared in horror as my muscles spasmed on their own.

My knee buckled and I caught myself on the counter. I glanced down to find the muscles of my thigh shifting and bunching, like I had maggots crawling under my skin. The imagery made me queasy but I stuck my mouth under in the sink and drank some water to get rid of the bile.

**What's going on? **I demanded.

_Change,_ Nadia whined to me, _is coming. You're body's preparing for it._

**Now isn't really the best time to Change. I mean, what if one of the nurses comes in to find me as a wolf? How am I gonna explain _that? _They don't know Supernaturals are real; they're human. Imagine my dad finding out or—hell—_Lauren. _She'd flip! The nurses would tell the Doctors, who'd call the police, who'd probably shoot me. **

Nadia was quiet as she paced. _I can't be certain if or when you will Change. Each wolf is different. _

While she spoke, I walked over to the bathtub and turn on the faucet. After I stuck my hand under, feeling how cold it was, I climbed into the tub and turned on the showerhead. It sputtered a little bit and then all the streams rushed out far too fast, making me jump in surprise but I forced myself to stand under it, hoping it would bring down my fever.

_I will hold it back for as long as possible, but it will be difficult for you. You may experience dizziness, nausea, muscle spasm, and other symptoms. _

**Please call your doctor is these symptoms worsen or persist for more than four hours. **

Nadia barked at me once. _It is not funny, Chloe. _

**You sound like one of those prescription warnings in allergy pill ads. **

_You may find it difficult to Change, Chloe. There's no guarantee that your Change will be smooth and flawless; holding it off has been known to make it worse on your body._

I stared down at the pink water running between my toes, icy. **Okay, okay. I get it. **

_No, you _don't. _Holding off has dire consequences. Some wolves have been known to attempt to Change for days or weeks, even. _

**We'll come to that when it arrives. **

_I see I'm not getting through to you, _Nadia sighed heavily, curling up, _but I will push it back until I'm unable. _

**Thanks. **

Frigid water ran down my face, down my body, and I forced my shaking hands to wash by my body carefully and slowly. Every swipe against my sensitive skin had me covered in goosebumps, had me shivering against the spray, and then I decided to wash my hair, since it had been soaked with sweat and probably stank.

My muscles had quit spasming but I still ached everywhere.

When I stepped out of the shower, I sat in a towel on the toilet and closed my eyes while I dried off. It felt like I'd closed them for only a second when someone knocked on the door and I jumped to my feet.

"What?" I croaked.

"Sorry," Derek apologized quietly. "Wait, Chloe? Are you okay? I heard the water running and—"

"I'm fine. Go back to bed," I said, dropping the towel to pull on my tanktop and panties. As I was shimmying my shorts up my legs, his voice called to me again.

"Are you sick? I-I could get one the nu-nurses if you want," he offered.

**Like they can help, **I thought sourly. "No, I'm fine," I repeated, wrapping the damp towel around my head to keep my air from dripping water down my neck.

I didn't hear his footsteps walk back down the hallway as I headed to the door. Before I opened it, I glanced at my reflection and frown at my breasts being so prominent against the fabric of my shirt, but figured he could do with a little spook. I opened the door and Derek stumbled back.

"Oh, you don't look so good," was the first thing he said to me.

I glared at him and walked past, ignoring him calling me name. Once I got to my room, I unraveled the towel and flopped onto my bedsheets, which were cold and tacky. The AC blew against my skin, like artic winds against my burning skin, and I kicked the towel to the floor.

My eyes were closing as the door to my room, which I'd left open, slowly closed. I knew it was Derek but I was too exhausted to snarl at him.


	6. Chapter 6

Switched!

Six

Clues

* * *

March 20, 2010

9:30 AM

Saturday

* * *

In the morning, I felt slightly better. At least I knew I wasn't going to hurl on anyone anytime soon.

Classes dragged by as I quietly took Tylenol and drank water, half-heartedly attempting a few problems in each subject before giving up and laying down to take a nap. Of course, Miss Wang didn't notice me sleeping, seeing as she was too busy arguing with Liz and I kept to my little corner niche in the classroom.

The dream was always the same.

It was the last time I saw my mother alive, the two of us sitting in her garden of tulips, planting side by side, the hot sun warming our backs.

Dew drops from the early morning's rain clung to the petals and leaves and the cool, healthy grass under our knees.

She laughed at a joke I said.

Dad brought out lemonade.

"Chloe."

I jerked awake, seeing Simon staring down at me with worry in his eyes. I swallowed hard and took a sip of my now warm water.

"You ok—"

"Fine," I muttered as I collected my papers and headed out the door. Every sound I hear, from the laughter to a chair squeaking, a door shutting, sent my head pounding, a headache brewing.

_What's happening? _

**Change. **

_Can I somehow stop it? In case you haven't noticed, I'm exactly in the right place for a teenage werewolf to experience her first Change. _

**I can't control it. It happens when it happens. **

_That's lovely. _

Nadia paced at the back of my brain, whining incessantly, grating on my sensitized nerves.

As I massaged my temple, I crashed into someone and stumbled. An arm wound tight around my waist. I glanced up and found worried green eyes. I untangled myself and headed for the girl's side of the stairs.

Derek trailed behind me.

Sighing heavily, I faced him and snapped, "What?"

"I suppose you aren't feeling well still," he muttered more to himself than to me.

A sharp pain exploded in the back of my head and I staggered, gripping the banister tight. My nails sank into the weak wood.

"Chloe!" He was at my side in an instant, hovering, worry written all over him.

"'M fine," I said softly, blinking hard as I began to sweat, rivulets pouring down my face. They stung my eyes.

"Should I get Simon?" he whispered.

I straightened up. "No. If I'm not bleeding, I'm fine."

"Are you sick? Maybe a bug?"

I shook my head. "I…I don't get sick. A perk, I guess, of my condition."

"Condition?" he echoed.

My eyes narrowed at him in a glare as a door upstairs slammed.

Someone pounded down the steps.

"Don't let Royce or Liam catch you two together," said a soft voice.

I glanced back and tensed.

It was Ramon, slick from a shower, damp hair combed back into a bun. "I really don't care what you two are bickering about. I'm just saying don't let him catch you." He was a mystery to me. He was a werewolf, like Liam, but he never made any threatening advances towards me; he hung around Royce and Liam but never really did anything. He spoke so little it was a shock to hear his voice.

"Thanks for the heads up," Derek said.

Ramon's dark, dark eyes swung towards the necromancer, lingering, and then he nodded. "I'll keep you guys posted," he said and headed in the direction of the kitchen.

"He seems nice."

I eyeballed his retreating form, watching him pause to speak with Liz, pat her on the head, walk away. "Yeah," I admitted slowly, "but I can't…we can't trust anyone."

* * *

7:30 PM

* * *

The burning receded when I took out the trash out behind the shed at dusk, the air cooling my fever, washing away the heat.

I saw Derek crouched at the fence, talking to a little girl in a frilly dress.

"That's a very pretty dress. When I was little, my mom—" he began but was interrupted when a woman yelled, "Amanda!"

I watched the girl jump and fall, burst into tears. The mom shot Derek a look as she scooped up her kid. "I told you to

The mom shot Derek a look as she scooped up her kid. "I told you to _never _talk to the kids behind the fence. Now I'm going to have to reschedule the photo shoot!" Her heels clicked away.

Derek sat there for the longest time, watching the house, hugging his knees to his chest. The way he sat reminded me of a little boy. He had this far away look on his face, his eyes distant; he was gone, in another life time, another world.

Where was his mom? In all the years I'd known Simon, he'd never spoken of Derek's mom, or father, although Kit often spoke uplifting about Derek, like he was his own son. Derek had told us that he didn't know his mom and he'd been in "foster care" until he was five. He "had no recollection" of before he lived with Kit, but I always sensed he was hiding something. I'd see it in his eyes when the sun went down; he was terrified when the shadows crept in.

"De—"

Something hard hit me in the back of my head and I lurched forward. I spun around and saw the four by four hit the ground. No one was there. I froze as I heard it: low-pitched laughter. My eyes drifted up.

A hand pressed against the glass of an upstairs window.

Royce.

What was the little fuck laughing about? Did he see who hit me, thought it was hilarious? I saw him close his fist slowly and then flash his fingers out.

The four by four rose slowly, inching off the ground. A smile spread across his lips as the wood plank swung, hitting me in the back of my knees.

I went down hard, the breath knocking my out of my lungs.

"Chloe!"

It was Derek, hurrying towards me.

The plank hovered, as if being held by someone and then dove for him, aiming for his stomach.

He grunted and grabbed it with both hands, planting his feet firmly into the dusty ground. The wood hit with a crack like thunder and he collapsed to his knees, wheezing wetly.

A feeling like ice slid up my spine when the plank crashed to the ground, clattering loudly.

Derek was trying to breath when I walked up to him.

"What…" he gasped up, "what was that?"

I hated the sour taste as I admitted, "I don't know."


	7. Chapter 7

Switched!

Seven

Strike Two||Square One

* * *

March 21, 2010

10:00 AM

Sunday

* * *

It was only a matter of time before I was pulled in for questioning.

"How did my nephew get that bruise?" Carson demanded loudly, looking at me with distaste, his mouth pulled tight into a pucker.

I crossed my arms and sneered. "I don't know," I said, shrugging.

"He's got a giant bruise on his stomach," Carson yelled, spittle flying. His look intensified ten fold and I could feel Nadia reacting accordingly, prickling and bristling, pacing back and forth, anger radiating off her. It was making me twitchy and uncomfortable.

"It wasn't _me_," I snapped, scowling back at him.

"It _had _to be you. You're a _menace. _You've had violent misunderstandings where you've hurt people severely. You're just a dog that needs to be put down before she bites the hand that feeds her," he snarled. His hands rose and fell and a heavy force threw me to the ground, hard and my head cracked against the ground.

I could see him standing there, hands raised, ready to attack again and his scent was hard and cold and metallic.

_Sorcerer. _

I clenched my teeth and braced my arms, pushing up hard. My back ached as the crushing force hit me again, slamming me back down into the ground.

"Uncle Andrew?" It was Simon, walking in now and Carson dropped his hands.

I scrabbled to my feet quickly and tried to look normal as possible. Rarely did I lose my composure and it was unnerving as my back throbbed with imaginary hands.

I booked it out of there as fast I could without actually looking like I was running away.

* * *

10:30 AM

* * *

"What was that all about?" Derek asked as I bumped into him in the hallway on the way to class.

I tried to ignore the possible bruises on my back. "Nothing," I lied as I shrugged, glancing at him out of the corner of my eye.

He was staring down at me, not buying my bullshitted story at _all_. "I heard him yelling," the necromancer said slowly, avoiding my eyes, "and I saw you on the ground when Simon opened the door."

I stopped walking and he stopped too, blinking this big, green eyes at me. "In other words, you were eavesdropping," I muttered quietly, ignoring the way his eyes went wide.

Color washed out of his face. "I-I—" he stuttered as I wheeled around, in his face now.

I must've shifted or something because he stepped back, eyes locked on mine. "Y-Your e-eyes ch-cha-anged," he blurted.

I ignored his ridiculous accusation and said, softly, "Don't think you can just eavesdrop on _anyone. _You might overhear something that drives you mad." _I'm sorry, Mr. Saunders, but the boy will never walk again. We have to put her in a group home; she's a menace. _"You know how Rae said I was in here because I nearly killed two people?" I leaned back against the wall, arms crossed as his eyes darted down the hall and then slid back home.

"She was lying." He shook his head and his long hair fell out of his eyes as his jaw clenched and his bottom lip jutted out.

"She wasn't lying, Derek," I spat and the spittle from my lips landed on the wide chasm stretching out between us. It was slowly widening, growing larger and larger as he stared at me like I was a monster under his bed.

"I broke his back. I saw the knife and—" I broke off, took a deep breath.

Nadia whimpered softly.

_Don't be sorry, _I told her, reaching deep down to comfort her.

**It was my fault; I overacted. **

_He's our _dad, I countered, _what were we supposed to do? Let him get stabbed? _

**Regardless, I should've—**

_You did everything you should have. He is a part of our pack and we protect our own. _

"Uh, Chloe?" Derek asked shakily, reaching up to touch underneath my eye, yanking me back to reality.

I backed up with a scowl, swatting his hand away. "What?" I snapped.

"Your eyes turned…red…" he whispered.

"Red?," I said.

"I've never met a werewolf," he mused.

I scowled. "Werewolves _aren't _real," I countered sharply, stepping closer.

"But necromancers and witches _are_?" he argued.

I looked away. "There's something wrong with me, something that _isn't _part—" I stopped. Sucked in a deep breath. Tried to calm down.

_Nadia, what's happening? _

**I don't know. **

_How can you not know? I mean, you're my Wolf; it's in your instincts to know what's happening to me. I've never met another werewolf. _

**This isn't natural, what's happening to us. It isn't part of the Change. This is unnatural, too strong. **Nadia shook her head and retreated to the back of my brain to think.

"Chloe, what are you?"

I looked at him, looked up at his bright green eyes and flushed cheeks, his face scattered with acne, a solid two feet taller than me, his head bent down to stare at me. It was hard to believe _I _was the werewolf; with his muscular build and intimidating stature, surely, he would be the werewolf. Everything _about _him screamed: "Hey, I'm a werewolf!"

"What _am _I?" I repeated slowly and something in his face shifted, panicking, thinking he'd made a mistake. "None of your damn business." Compelled by a strong pull inside the ppit of my stomach, I drew closer and closer.

He barely breathed when I stood on my tiptoes and got in his face, looking into his eerily green eyes. For a second, I thought he would kiss me but he didn't move.

"So you need to stay away," I whispered, stepping away. "Because, just like your uncle said, I'm nothing but an animal to be put out of her misery." I turned and walked away and I could hear him choking on words that would never see the light of day behind me.

**One step back? **Nadia whined.

_One step back, _I sighed as I closed the door to my room.


	8. Chapter 8

Switched!

Eight

Strike Three||Fight

* * *

October 23, 2010

12:30 AM

Saturday

* * *

Derek didn't bug me after that.

Everything got quiet as March drifted by; the months after blurred.

September crawled into October, the leaves changing, nights shorter and air cooler.

Liz was all hyped about Halloween; Tori even seemed in better spirits.

"And you can go as the big bad wolf," she had said to me, to which I glowered and flipped her off. She nearly broke her nose when she fell off her chair and hit my dresser.

"Is Derek around?" Ramon asked softly, crossing his arms.

Over the months, we'd grown closer, despite my pledge to stay away. Turns out he was not friends with Liam and Royce; he just hung around Liam because he was the only werewolf he could relate to and he'd thought I hated him.

"Does it look like my Derek GPS is on?" I replied, setting down my pencil. I'd just finish the crap ton of homework Miss Wang had assigned us and since I wasn't getting enough sleep due to my muscle spasms and over-active imagination playing tricks on me, I was a bit irritable.

Ramon's slightly slanted eyes narrowed. "I need to speak with him. It's about his little escape plan. Royce and Rachelle know."

A feeling of cold dread filled me. "What the hell are you going on about?" I demanded, forcing my voice to be gruff.

He looked at me curiously. "Derek, Tori, Liz and Simon are planning to escape tonight. Royce and Rachelle know; they plan to tell everyone." His dark eyes met mine. "Or kill them in attempting to stop them from leaving," he added gravely.

* * *

1:30 PM

* * *

I found him in a book-filled classroom we used as a shitty library.

"Derek," I called.

He glanced up at me blearily, wiping drool from his face as he lifted his head out of his textbook. Ignoring how being so close to him made me shaky, I ducked into the room and closed the door behind me. Beams of sunlight streamed in.

Ignoring how being so close to him made me shaky, I ducked into the room and closed the door behind me.

Beams of sunlight streamed in.

"We need to talk," I said.

Fear filled his eyes as he shifted away from me slightly, holding his arm loosely.

My chest ached as I pulled back, a scowl rising. "Royce knows."

Derek scrubbed the dried drool off his cheek. "What're you ta-talking about?" he asked.

"I'm not stupid," I snarled, anger flaring up.

The crease between his brows deepened as he turned in his chair and looked at me. "You can't be n-near me," he said suddenly, looking frightened.

I clenched my jaw. "You think I don't _know _that? Royce knows about you and your brother's plan," I hissed.

"What plan?" he asked.

"The plan to escape, you _idiot!_" I growled.

Derek looked away, as though to compose himself, but quickly got to his feet and stalked towards me.

Had I been any other girl, I would've backed down immediately but, me being myself, I ignored the warning bells and held my ground.

"I'm _not _an idiot," he told me in a dark, quiet voice. "I'm not stupid. I'm _not _a clumsy idiot. You think you're _so _much better than me, don't you? You're a big, scary werewolf and I'm a bumbling idiot necromancer, right?" he whispered.

My skin crawled with goosebumps as he faltered in step and stayed where he was, a few feet from me.

"Actually, I don't—" I started hesitantly but he interrupted me.

"Do you _ever _shut up? All it is 'me, me, me'. All you _do _is talk, a bitch who couldn't shut her damn mouth for more than twenty minutes." A growl rose. "What? Are you angry? That wouldn't be a first." He yanked up his sweatshirt sleeve and my skin turned cold as I stared at the mark I'd left. Tiny fingerprints, dark as ink on his milky skin.

A sick feeling of bile churned in my stomach.

"Derek," I said, "I had no idea—"

"No!" he burst out and slapped his open hands onto the table. "You _don't!_ You think you're the only one who's had a hard life, what with no mom at all," he hissed.

I pressed my tongue against my teeth until I thought I'd pushed my teeth out of my gums. My canines were sharp and pressed against my tongue painfully.

_Chloe, _whispered Nadia gently, _just leave. Being verbally abused isn't worth warning them._

**They'll kill him if I don't. **

_Would that really be a bad thing? _

**Yeah, it would. **

Nadia was quiet for a very long time and I listened to Derek rave at me, his voice growing hoarser and hoarser with each word. "I heard about your mom," he said suddenly.

I froze, not daring to move a muscle. Every inch of my blood had been replaced by ice, moving sluggishly through my veins.

"Everyone said it was a wild dog attack," he continued, dragging his finger through a thin layer of dust on the table. Dust swirled around him.

"It wasn't, was it?" he said.

"W-wha—"

"You killed your own mother, Chloe."

Horror washed over me as my legs buckled and I crashed to floor.

_Damn him, _I thought as I remembered bits and pieces, the taste of blood in my mouth, the feeling of sinking my partial claws into something warm and soft, the screaming of my name. Lifeless, baby blues staring up at me, face flecked with gore and blood. Mouth open in shock and horror, teeth stained red. Red-blonde hair a tangled mess with the growing puddle of blood under her.

"Chloe?" His worried face—that bastard, he didn't _get _to be worried, especially after what he said.

I blinked away tears and pushed myself to my feet.

_Please, please, leave. _Nadia was whining as she recalled the memories.

**I can't. He's my mate. I have to protect him, even if he _does_**** hate me. **

I wiped my nose on my sleeve and stared at him.

Derek's horror-filled eyes left me feeling hollowed out and dry as big tears welded up in them, dripping down his cheeks.

"_You're right_," I said slowly, only it wasn't _my _voice; it was Nadia's. Terror flashed across Derek's tear-stained face. "I _did _kill her. But that was a long time ago."

I felt my body move, towards the door but the strides weren't mine; they were too smooth and slinky. My head turned towards him, a profile, and a smile crept across my lips.

"I'm done."

* * *

1:40 PM

* * *

I blocked out Nadia as I rapped on Ramon's door, shivering in a hoodie and jeans.

Liz gave me a curious look as she passed.

The door opened and a shirtless Ramon appeared, his hair tangled and eyes sleepy. Once he saw me, however, he went into full alert. "What's up?" he asked, running both hands through his hair.

"Ramon, I want you to help me protect the others from Royce and Rae," I told him.

Our lips curled simultaneously and he managed a half-awake grin, his canine catching on his lower lip.

"Thought you'd never ask, sweetie."


	9. Chapter 9

Switched!

Nine

Wendigo

* * *

October 24, 2010

4:45 PM

Sunday

* * *

Ramon was a tough but efficient teacher. He taught me the things I needed to know: how to block a punch, how to throw one, how to blend in with shadows, how to monitor a person's vitals. We sparred every once in a while to test our abilities against each other, but one afternoon he was telling me some of his nomad stories as he leaned back into the couch cushion, legs out.

I was sitting with my legs tucked up against my chest and back pressed against his side.

"I've run across many other Supers in my time, but a few stand out to me. I remember it was freezing in Alaska and I was looking for a town that had a Wendigo problem." He chuckled as he ran a hand through his hair; droplets of water showered the back of my neck since my hair was pulled up.

"Wendigos are skinwalkers are from Native American legends. A human or spirit that was corrupted after delving into cannibalism. They're scattered about in cold places and are best known for their bottomless stomachs. This one had been preying on children, primarily, so I was contacted by one of the victim's parents—oh, hey." A cool nod of his head in the direction I was facing away from, seeing as he sat at the end of the couch near the threshold of the TV room and I was facing the other way, towards the east, where the computer was.

"Hi." The voice was deep, gravelly and utterly unmistakable for the one man who'd pulled me to my limit and nearly shattered me.

I forced myself not to crane my neck and look at Derek; every inch of my skin crawled with the memory of last week. _You killed your own mother, Chloe. Chloe? _His worried voice—pale face—drawn eyebrows; the perfect picture of worry but no, he was a bastard and didn't get to be worried over me, _especially _after what'd he said to me.

"Anyway, the kid had gone missing so I had to track it down. The temperature dropped to the low thirties when I stumbled across its den. As I walked, I found a pile of bones and bodies strewn about, stripped of skin and muscle. Sick, right? That's what they eat. Humans." Ramon said all of this calmly, and it made my skin crawl. "The only way to kill it is fire. Burn it."

I settled down onto my back and placed my head in his lap, purposely placing my back to Derek when I rolled onto my side. I watched Ramon's Adams Apple bob with each word, each breath he took and remembered how my mother used to stroke under my chin when I lay her lap and count my breaths.

"I wandered around until I saw it. It was taller than me and skinny. Scared me shitless when it snarled at me, and its breath smelled absolutely _disgusting, _like hot blood and rotten meat. It's got milky eyes that stared sraight me, and I fumbled with my lighter." He made a strangled sound as I closed my eyes and remembered looking into my mom's familiar eyes, glazed over, droplets of blood on her lowered eyelids, a few tears had slipped from her eyes.

I pressed my face into Ramon's bony hip as he paused in his story, scratching the back of my head.

A weight dipped on the other side of the couch and I could tell it was Derek.

_It's him, _Nadia told me gently, like I _already _didn't know.

I simply sighed and pressed Ramon's shoulder harder into my face.

**I know.**

_Aren't you going to talk to him? _

**Why? So he can accuse me of murdering my mother again? And berate me? **

_It's true so why should it matter? _

**What matters is that I'm no different than Royce. **

_So you have a penis now? _

"It kept coming at me, insanely fast, and then it hit me, hard, so hard that I went sailing into the snowdrift outside. The little shit dislocated my shoulder and broke my hand. Well, not really. I landed weird, trying to us my hands to break my fall. I was so dizzy I didn't hear it come after me until the wet, grimy hand wrapped around my ankle and threw me into the air. I had hairspray in my pocket so I pulled it out, using my non-broken foot to kick off its forehead. I struggled for a while to flick my lighter on but, just as it lunged at me, mouth open, strings of rotten flesh hitting me, long strings of saliva dripping, it clicked on. I sprayed the hairspray. I watched as it burned and screamed. It sounded like children screaming."

Ramon stopped scratching my head and I took that as a cue to sit up.

I did so slowly, agonizing over the little details of my mother's demise: the way Aunt Lauren had looked at me, so disgusted; the way my father had crumpled in on himself, the police poking and prodding terrified me for answers, the scary doctors, the too-friendly therapists. So I steeled myself and opened my eyes.

Derek was staring straight at me. He looked a bit pale, shaky even; his acne stood out like blood on his cheeks and his eyes looked puffy; dark circles hung in half-moons under his eyes. His hair, damp from a shower, was pulled away from his shoulders in a short bun, wisps escaping and clinging to the back of his neck and temples. He was sucking on his top lip, looking insanely awkward, as our eyes met.

"Hi," I said, digging my nails into my palm to help myself relax, or, at least distract myself with the pain.

"Hi," he replied, looking at his hands rather than look me in the face; the coward. His nails were chewed and ragged; his hands were calloused and dotted with scars here and there.

"Do you think the moms were happy that you killed it?" Liz asked as she plopped down at my feet and began to play with my bare toes.

"Yeah. I'm _never _taking another Wendigo case," Ramon grumbled, leaning back to relax. "Hey, Chloe, how come you never talk about your mom?" he asked me softly in my ear.

I saw Derek stiffen; his body temperature rose a few degrees as he began to sweat.

"It's just me and my aunt and my dad," I said with a bitter taste in my mouth. I could feel Derek's eyes burning into me. "I was told, once upon a time, that I killed her," I told Ramon, struggling to keep my emotions off my face.

Liz gasped.

Ramon's eyes flickered behind me. Narrowed. His lip curled.

"Not all fairytales have Happy Ever After."

The smile I wore nearly split me in two.


	10. Chapter 10

Switched!

Ten

The Toll of the Change

* * *

October 25, 2010

12:45 PM

Monday

* * *

The right hook Ramon had thrown to me left my mouth tender and bloody and I was currently icing it, tasting blood on my teeth. "I thought you would block it," he said, running his fingers through his hair. It was just him and me in the kitchen, cooling off after our routinely sparring session; his tank was plastered to his chest, sweat running down his face.

"It's fine," I told him, pulling the ice pack away and sliding two fingers into my mouth, hooking them into my cheek and slipping to ice cubes in the groove that connected my gums and cheek, shivering when they touched the cuts. "But damn, you've got a good arm."

"Oh, I've got _more _than a good arm," snickered a new voice.

I immediately leapt off the counter, bristling at Liam's sleazy smirk.

"Honestly," crowed Rae's grating voice, "you think she'd get a hint when a guy's not interested."

"At least I'm not a compete pyschotic bitch," I spat, narrowing my eyes at her.

"At least I _look _my age," she countered softly. "At least I didn't kill someone."

An icy hand might as well have squeezed my throat in a fist.

_Don't listen to her._

**But it's true. I killed my mother. **

_By _accident_. It's normal for young werewolves to injured and in some instances even _kill _their family members. _

**That's with people who _know_**** how to handle it. Police, judges, and doctors…humans…don't.** **They see the line as black and white. Either you meant to kill her or you didn't. But they're prejudiced against us. Oh, you killed someone? You must've meant to. Hell, even _judges _****are racist. They hate us. They lynch us and burn us and stake us and shoot us. **

_Fear is the ultimate weapon. _

Gritting my teeth, I shoved passed Liam and Rae, only to be knocked by a bony elbow. My side throbbed and all my muscles begged for mercy. I lowered my head, catching Ramon's eye.

He nodded slowly and I ran like a coward.

* * *

1:20 PM

* * *

Under the hot spray, I sat and thought. Flashes of old, grainy memories filled my brain.

A woman's laugh.

Lifeless blue eyes.

Rough hands yanking me up. Aunt Lauren crying.

Aunt Lauren crying.

Dad praying.

My mother was a good, kind, gentle woman who didn't deserve to be killed by her own monster of a daughter.

I closed my eyes, letting the water run over my breasts and down my thighs.

Aunt Lauren scrubbing the blood from my teeth with her effective Doctor hands, morphing into a cold woman.

Dad soothing me back to my human side.

Tears stinging my face as I saw what I'd done.

Staring at my chubby hands, wondering how I could've done it.

_Monster, monster, monster_, echoing in my brain the night after.

I clenched my jaw and clenched my fist tight around my thigh, feeling my nails lengthen with a sharp pressure. **Not now.**

_I'm sorry. _

**Please**_._

_ I'll try to push it back but it's getting harder and harder. For you, I will try until I can't.  
_

**Thank you.**

_ No problem. _

I licked my lips as the water poured down on me.

If they wanted a monster, they'd get one. Maybe later, though.

* * *

6:50 PM

* * *

I woke up from my nap in a bad, foul, twisted mood. it really didn't help that Rae was brushing her hair. My head pounded as I pulled myself up and glowered at her.

Rae sat at her vanity in a towel while she ran a widetooth comb through her wet hair, playing some loud music with her wireless speaker. My head pounded as I pulled myself up and glowered at her.

My head pounded as I pulled myself upright and glowered at her.

She smirked and threw a wet towel at me.

"Oh, you're awake," she hummed, combing her fingers through her long hair as she twisted pieces up.

I licked my dry lips as I snarled a yawn. My temples pounded as I ran my fingers absently through my hair. I got to my feet and shivered at the cold floor, pulling my comforter around me as I headed out. The door slammed behind me, adding to my growing headache.

The house was at the cusp of waking, sunlight beginning to stream in and it smelled stale and sounded quiet.

I made my way downstairs and found Derek in the TV room, flipping through the channels.

He grunted a greeting and I simply nodded, only my body bowed as well. I sat down beside him.

_Say something. _Nadia pawed at me.

**Like what? Hi, I'm sorry that I was a bitch to you but you're my mate and I think you're super cool. Can I touch your butt? **

I glanced at him.

"Rae's playing some God awful shit," I said to break the silence.

He shrugged, scratching his side.

Stars danced in my eyes as I took a deep breath. **Is this part of the change? **

_I'm afraid so. _

"So what's your condition?" Derek asked, flipping between _Diners, Drive Ins and Dives _and _Good Eats. _

I blinked, struggling to stay awake. "What?" I murmured. He set down the remote and stretched out in the recliner, looking at the TV.

He set down the remote and stretched out in the recliner, looking at the TV.

"What's your condition?"

"W—" I wanted to tell him; I wanted to spill my guts. Maybe it was the fact that I was hardly awake. I tucked my toes under the blankets. "Can you guess?" I sneered.

"You've got red eyes, you're incredibly strong, and you've got super hearing. I wanna say vampire but I feel like that's pushing it," he told me, biting his lip.

I stretched out, exhaustion sweeping over me. My eyelids bobbed as my head hit his leg.

He tensed. "Werewolf," I managed to whisper as his hand settled over my hair. "Huh?"

"That's my…condition."

"All we need are vampires and we can reenact Twilight. You can be Jacob."

I was too tired to bite his head off for the joke.


	11. Chapter 11

Switched!

Eleven

Botched Escape

* * *

October 27, 2010

11:25 AM

Thursday

* * *

The rest of the week went by slow and calm.

Royce seemed to have vanished and that was a blessing in itself.

However, as Friday approached steadily, I saw less and less of everyone.

They were preparing to leave, for their big escape.

I felt out of whack. Entirely. I was dizzy most of the day and overheated, hardly concentrating on anyone and anything, trying to not look paler than I already was. My hands shook every time I took them off the desk. I couldn't even hold the damn pencil.

I caught Derek staring and looked away.

* * *

4:45 PM

* * *

It only got worse.

Lunchtime found me swaying nearly fainting on the spot.

I stared in fear at my hands after I snuck into the bathroom during class. They were violently trembling and my vision doubled, blurred by the sweat streaming into my eyes, making them burn.

_Chloe—_

**I know. Jesus, it hurts so bad. **

I bit my lip hard as I felt a sharp pang, right at the base of my spine, like someone had dug their heel into it.

**I have to make it until Friday.**

Despite my determination, I faltered. I wasn't sure I'd make it.

* * *

October 28, 2010

5:25 PM

Friday

* * *

The day had been normal, with Royce and Rae watching everyone's move, trying to make one of them slip up.

Liam leered.

Ramon was quiet, slipping me Aspirins during class and during breaks.

The heat had been notched up and I felt like I was burning alive, sweat pouring from every inch of my body.

* * *

6:00 PM

* * *

"Chloe?" Someone rapped on my door.

I pushed myself up, faintly aware of my light camisole and panties, and cracked open the door.

Upon seeing my lack of dress, Derek's cheeks flamed bright red, reminding me of a mutant strawberry.

I squinted up into his worried eyes.

"Are y-you—" he began.

"Be fine," I managed, running a hang over my dry, chapped lips and blinking hard, eyes finally focusing.

"I brought some Tylenol and water," he said.

"Thanks."

He watched me toss all four into my mouth and swallow them with a quick swallow of water, which dripped down my front. "Are you _sure _you're okay?"

I shrugged. "Good enough," I muttered, running a hand through my limp hair.

He watched me with huge eyes.

"Derek?" I called when he turned to go. "Nothing about this to anyone."

"B-But—"

I leveled my stare. "I mean it."

He hesitated, like he was going to argue, but below him, Liz called him. Green eyes, shinign with concern, bounced between me and below.

"Go."

On the way down the stairs, he stumbled several times.

* * *

9:00 PM

* * *

"Where's Chloe?"

"I don't know."

"Have you seen Chloe?"

I crouched behind the shed, shivering in the cold air as it attacks my burning skin, cooling me down. My stomach ached. My lungs burned for breath as I dropped to my knees, hot strings of saliva dripping from my bleeding lips. My mouth tasted like vomit and cold air, making my stomach dry heave. The leaves were covered with my breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the stench hanging in the air.

I listened to the noise as I caught my breath, watching my breath cloud out of my lips. I heard the back door open, heavy footsteps crunching through the dead leaves.

"Chloe?"

My toes curled against the ground, scraping the concrete, damp against my feet.

Abruptly, a pain jackknifed through my spine and I let out a noise, a low, guttural howl. Just feeling it vibrate in my throat and chest made every hair on my body stand on end.

"Chloe?" he whispered. "It's Derek."

His huge shadow fell across the pavement as I caught a glimpse of him.

I shook my head as the pain broke off into a wave, rippling out viciously. I dry heaved again, feeling my stomach clench up as I did.

"A-Are you—" he began but I turned my head away as the dry heaves lessened until I could breathe. When I could, however, I gagged and Derek's entire frame came into view.

He was wearing a white t-shirt layered under a hoodie and a rain-coat and his familiar, huge white sneakers. His backpack thumped against the cement when it fell from his grasp as a wave slammed into me again, forcing my back higher and higher, bones cracking and grinding painfully. I felt the burn of the coarse weaving itself out of my skin, retreating and pushing forward again and again.

"A-Are you okay?" he asked.

I stretched out, fingering digging into the chunks soil. "Go away," I managed, although I doubted he understood a word I said.

"Is there anything I can do?" he whispered, crouching down beside me.

I knew he could see the monster I was, my ears shifting to the top of my head, my brows molding together, my crushed nose. My fingers long and nails turning into claws. My eyes burned as a wave hit me, rocking me to the tips of my toes and the tips of my fingers. Dizziness made my head spin as his hand landed on my back, the heat of his skin (normal, rough human hands, human skin, not rough wanna be furry skin) seeping through my damp shirt. "Don't." I forced my muscles to relax. "Go." My fingers grabbed fistfuls of wet dirt clumps.

"I'm not leaving you," he told me firmly.

I started to cry, much to my embarrassment, feeling the tears burn in my already sore eyes, feeling them carve cleaner trails down my dirty cheeks.

"Don't go," I begged.

And he didn't.


	12. Chapter 12

Switched!

Twelve

Lie

* * *

October 29, 2010

9:30 PM

Friday

* * *

As I gathered my strength, Derek peered around the shed and gasped. A beam of light swung towards us.

"Chloe?" It was Dr. Gil, swinging the light of a flashlight back and forth, sweeping the yard. She spotted my shoe and a grin lit up her face; curls of red escaped her normally strict bun and it made her look crazy. Shadows cut across her features, sharpening them, and playing with her expression. "Chloe, I know you're out here," she boasted loudly as I caught my breath and grabbed the back of Derek's raincoat and yanked hard.

He stumbled back, crashing into me, and I wound my arms tight around his waist to keep him upright.

"Don't make a sound," I growled to him, quickly averting my face from his line of sight when his head swung to me.

"Wh—" he started but Dr. Gil continued.

"I know _all _about Albany and Sacramento, sweetie," she said in a sickly sweet voice, "and I know about Derek's feelings for you."

In the pale moonlight, Derek's cheeks turned scarlet.

"She's _lying_," he hissed but I could see some doubt in his eyes, clouding them.

**No,** I begged silently, **please, not him.**

_I'm afraid he _does _have feelings for you, whether he knows of them or not. He is our mate; of course _we _have feelings for him but he may not return them. _

I gritted my teeth and reached into Derek's backpack, pulling out a sweatshirt.

"Hey—"

The look I shot him smothered any noise better than duct tape and I leaned close to Derek, making sure to muss my hair more.

"Don't panic," I told him and mused his hair up, pressing my body against his unintentionally.

His eyes widened in shock and fear.

I leaned up, struggling on my tiptoes and, sitting back on my feet, peeled off his rain coat, stuffing it quietly into the backpack. His wide eyes stared me. When my hands went to his fly, he squeaked and made to step back.

"She think we're fooling around; let's give her the lie," I whispered fiercely before unbuttoning his jeans and tugging them a bit so they looked messed up.

After layering a few hickies on his neck and one behind his ear, hidden by his locks, I pulled away his hoodie and motioned for him to do mine; while he shyly did so, I tucked half of his sweatshirt into the back of my jeans and dabbled some dirt onto his cheek and jaw as I did mine.

"Stumble out while I hide the bag," I ordered and shoved him.

Crouching beside some clean bushes, I nestled the backpack and arranged the leaves so it was hidden.

Taking a deep breath, I heard Dr. Gil's voice.

"Chloe?"

_Show time._

* * *

10:00 PM

* * *

"And sh-she knew the password so I thought—" Derek paused and flushed red under my casual glance. The moon gleamed down as Dr. Gil stood in front of us, a knowing smirk plastered on her face.

"I know it must be hard," the doctor said, smiling kindly as she crossed her arms.

Derek nodded.

"But I can assure you, this will stay between us, only _if _you tell us where your brother is."

Her smile wasn't so nice.

"His brother?" I asked, feigning confusion.

Her ratty eyes narrowed at me sharply the minute I opened my mouth but I ignored it. I could feel Derek's heat next to me, his fingers so close to mine.

"I came out here to smoke a cigarette and noticed Derek walking around here," she said, smiling predatorily, steepling pointy fingers together; she looked like the villain out of a James Bond movie. "My first thought was why would _he _be out _here_? And without tripping the alarm, being a newbie and all." Her smile was getting wider and wider, a sharp, vicious gleam in her eyes. "And then I thought. Who had he been caught with before, who'd been warned to stay away from him?" A ghost surfaced in her eyes.

My breath stuttered from my lips. "Me."My voice came out strangled and hoarse.

At my side, Derek squirmed uncomfortably, panic running across his face quickly, like a deer being approached by a vehicle.

"_You_." Dr. Gil's smile slipped and a dark look banished away the ghost in her gaze like a dark demon pushing out the light. Her once relaxed stance became rigid, arms clenched, legs crossed, head tilted down at us; her shoulders nearly touched her ears. "Why _else _would the doctor's nephew stay around a girl like you?"

Terror and anger squeezed my throat tightly.

"Does Dr. Davidoff and the other nurses know you're out here? Do they know you smoke around us?" Derek shot back sharply and pushed himself to his feet, towering above Dr. Gil.

Her black eyes widened. "Now, Derek, I know you're a good kid—" she began, reaching for something in depths of her coat.

Nadia seized my mind and an animalistic instinct drove me forward, lunging off the bench and crashing my head into Dr. Gil's soft belly.

She let out a loud gasp of air as she hit the ground, hitting her head on a stone as she went down. She thrashed frantically as I wrapped my hands around her throat, watching her struggling dwindle down slowly.

"Chloe." Derek's rumbling voice jerked me from my stupor and I yanked my hands away, looking at the reddened flesh and my fingerprints.

Blood stained the side of her cheek, from the cut on her head; a nearby rock glistened with it.

Derek crouched down while I ran to grab his bag. Nausea rolled inside my belly when I returned, finding him still kneeling beside her, examining her wounds.

Her nails were broken. There was a long scratch running from her ankle to the hem of her skirt. Had I done that?

"She's breathing," he said and relief swelled inside my breast like a great balloon filling and exploding out. But the guilt never left as I shoved the bag at him, pulled out his extra coat and laid it over her.

In Buffalo, it never really got warm and Nadia was complaining about my lack of consideration.

_Let's go, _she suggested.

I hurriedly followed her instructions and the guilt weld up inside me, growing darker and larger as the Lyle House grew smaller and smaller behind us, the light of the flashlight I'd stolen from Dr. Gil leading our way.

When I glanced back at last, I couldn't see the lights of the house anymore.


	13. Chapter 13

Switched!

Thirteen

Meeting

* * *

October 29, 2010

11: 45 PM

Friday

* * *

I scanned the area quickly before reaching into my pocket and pulling out the burner phone to check the time. It was close to midnight now and the woods were silent, with only the scurrying of nighttime creatures filling it with soft sounds, dry leaves crunching beneath our feet. Beside me, Derek didn't say a word and I wondered, briefly, what was going through his head.

Beside me, Derek didn't say a word and I wondered, briefly, what was going through his head.

_Worried? _

**Of course I am. I…I nearly killed her. **

_It was self-defense, _Nadia crooned.

I shook my head. **You and I both know that's bullshit. **

She fell silent, receding to a corner of my mind to sleep. "Where did the others head to?" I asked Derek, although I kept my eyes on the path and a respectful distance so we didn't accidentally brush. "Factory, I

"Where did the others head to?" I asked Derek, although I kept my eyes on the path and a respectful distance so we didn't accidentally brush. "Factory, I

"Factory, I th-think," he answered, sounding uncertain. "About earlier…" he started and I forced out a slow breath. "It was nothing. Don't worry about it." My voice shook a bit on the word

"It was nothing. Don't worry about it." My voice shook a bit on the word _nothing _and I paused for a second, wondering if he'd heard it. Apparently not, because his steps never faltered, although he kept tripping on tree roots.

"Oh." He sounded surprisingly disappointed.

**There's nothing between us, **I told myself fiercely.

_Perhaps he wants there to be, _Nadia purred from her corner. I scowled.

I scowled. **Why would he when he's made it all too clear that I'm a monster to him? The girl who killed her own flesh and blood in a fit of rage? **

_It wasn't your fault. Young—_

**That's shit, Nadia, **I spat and she hissed, bristling.

_I'm trying—_

**I'm a killer and that's all I'll ever be. This isn't Twilight; I'm not a romantic interest. Werewolves don't get the guy.**

She fell silent and didn't say another word for a very long time. When she did speak, it was like a blow horn. _Stop! _She yelled loudly.I froze mid-step. An unmistakable scent filled the air.

I froze mid-step. An unmistakable scent filled the air.

"Get down, you stupid boy," I snarled at Derek as he moved forward, completely unaware. When he heard me, he turned and that's when the werewolf bounded out of the bushes. It struck his side and sent him stumbling to left. With a loud laugh, the werewolf backed off. I'd recognize that sleazy smirk and greasy blonde hair anywhere. Malloy.

When he heard me, he turned and that's when the werewolf bounded out of the bushes. It struck his side and sent him stumbling to left. With a loud laugh, the werewolf backed off. I'd recognize that sleazy smirk and greasy blonde hair anywhere. Malloy.

With a loud laugh, the werewolf backed off. I'd recognize that sleazy smirk and greasy blonde hair anywhere.

Malloy.

"Nice to see ya', girlie," he barked as he pulled himself upright, brushing the dirt off his flannel coat like he _hadn't _just smashed my mate into the ground.

"Not really, bastard," I spat, bristling as Nadia took her stance.

"Have you ever fought a full-fledged Wolf?" he asked, smiling darkly. His eyes glowed in the dark like a cat's, watching my reaction. Before I could reply, he launched himself at me and exploded mid-air, knocking me to the ground.

All his two hundred pound wolf body smashed into me and the breath was squeezed from my lungs as he snarled, long strings of saliva hanging inches from my face. He was so heavy, pinning me while I was struggling to get away. With his front paws pinning my shoulders, he leaned close and snapped his teeth onto my hear.

I screamed and bucked wildly.

His laugh-like yelp echoed, scattering my thoughts.

"Get off me, you fucking mutt," I grunted as I managed to wedge my legs between me and his fleshy underbelly. With a loud curse, I pushed with my knees and he flew back, hitting a nearby tree with a yelp.

Obviously angered, he shook off the blow and came at me, lips drawn back and teeth gleaming.

I scrambled to my feet and swung out my arm, intending to punch him.

Last second, he lunged, and his razor-sharp teeth sank in, cutting through skin and muscle.

My fist glanced off his skull and he let go of my arm to slash at my side, tearing my shirt into pieces. Quickly seizing my advantage, I grabbed the scruff of his neck and threw him down to the forest floor.

Behind me, Derek stayed silent, watching in horror.

_Crunch. _

His nose gushed with blood as he let out a short, pitiful bark. He sounded like he was choking, as my knees came up and hit his side. My arm throbbed with each punch. Somehow, he wiggled free and went from my throat, saliva spraying my cheeks as he squirmed atop me, my hands wrapped around his throat. Like a true animal, he snarled loudly, claws ripping at my shirt and shredding the skin beneath. Drops of blood hit my face and neck.

Out of the corner of my eye, I heard Derek moving and saw a dark shape stumble out of the trees.

The smell of sweat invaded my nose and a faux-leather jacket gleamed in the moonlight as the second werewolf put both hands out and shoved Malloy off me. With a growl, the wolf rolled off me and came at Ramon.

This time, it was Derek who stopped his attack, swinging a half-rotted tree branch at the flank-scarred wolf, smacking him straight in the face.

With a low yelp, Malloy eventually retreated, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.

I watched him as my arm throbbed, demanding attention. In the light, it looked worse than I knew it to be; it was covered in gallons of blood and the skin looked badly torn. Glancing down at my shirt, I saw my side was in the same state, with several shredded cuts from Malloy's claws. I shook my head in distaste as Ramon helped me to the ground.

"This is gonna hurt," he warned me as he poured something on my arm.

He lied.

It hurt like a bitch, a fire exploding in my skin and burning me alive, charring flesh and breaking bones, like setting your hand on a hot stove, burning it purposefully.

"I'm fine," I argue stiffly as I sat up, ignoring the wound in my side and wincing when Ramon pushed me back down.

"No, you aren't…" he said fiercely, his eyes gleaming above mine like black stones.

"You really aren't," Derek echoed, speaking to me for the first time without being spoken to first. "You look like you've been mauled by a bear," he continued softly. His eyes looked scared like a little boy's.

"Actually, it was a wolf," I corrected him.


	14. Chapter 14

Switched!

Fourteen

Warehouse

* * *

October 29, 2010

12:03 AM

Friday

* * *

Derek obviously knew where he was going, where as I hadn't the slightest hint.

It was embarrassing being hauled around by a fellow werewolf and a necromancer. I was a _werewolf _damn it. I hated being weak.

Eventually, we got to a cluster of warehouses, the kind that normal people store junk in, and Derek walked along the aisle, muttering to himself.

"So he's yours?" Ramon's voice was soft and quiet, careful not to be heard by the moron in front of us.

I scowled. "He's my nothing."

_He's my everything. I will gladly die for him, _Nadia just about screamed, making me wince.

His smirk grew wider, teeth gleaming.

**He thinks we're a monster, **I reminded her and, at that, she fell completely silent.

"Guys!" Derek's voice drew us like moths to a flame and Ramon just about carried me. Judging by his tongue-in-cheek expression, he was trying not to burst into laughter.

Derek rapped on the metal a few times in a beat I was too tired to figure out and, just as I began to slump, it rolled open noisily. The sound of metal grinding made Nadia howl and even Ramon winced.

Derek and Simon shared a look that read _werewolves _and helped Ramon basically carry me into their makeshift hideout.

Tori was crouched, murmuring quietly to Liz, who was asleep, and stared and stared at my bloodied side as they helped me sit down on a pile of sleeping bags.

"Hurts," I managed to grunt out when Ramon asked me how bad my pain was.

Simon was cautiously lifting away my shredded shirt and I lifted my arms, wiggling it off. No time to be embarrassed about being in my bra and jeans in front of three boys and two lesbians.

The wound was gaping and wide, gleaming every time I moved or breathed, but I was pretty sure I was going into shock at the gruesome sight of it. Sure, I'd felt it when Liam sank his teeth but, Christ, it was worse than I thought it was.

Simon came back carrying a water bottle and a cloth, face white and hands shaking.

"Gimme," I said breathlessly, reaching for the bottle.

He practically threw it in my face and hovered, worry written all over his face as I cracked the seal. Shaky fingers sloshed water onto my belly and soaked my jeans. I grunted in surprise as I gently began to wipe away the dried blood, carefully avoiding the open wound.

Every swipe made the skin pinker, more irritated but now I could see the size of the wound. Six inches wide, nine long. I nearly fainted; my vision even tunneled for second. "Anyone have some thread and a needle?" I asked in a surprisingly steady voice, peeling away the debris of twigs and leaves. Holding my breath, a waterfall of cold water shocked the bitemark, washing away the blood.

"Why?" I turned to see Liz sitting up, her corn-gold hair spilling around her pretty face. I angled my bite wound away from her.

"I tore my shirt on the way here," Ramon lied smoothly.

"And a lighter," I muttered as an afterthought. She was wide awake now, squinting at us.

"Is that…blood?" she whispered, her voice tiny and soft.

"It's ketchup."

Tori shot me a dark scowl at my attempt to lighten the mood.

"I've got a lighter." It was Ramon, digging into his coat pockets for it. Simon came back with some thread and a needle.

I forced down all my hysteria and took a deep breath.

"Chloe, what—oh my god, is that a_ knife wound_?" Liz's voice was pitchy, shrieky.

Something in my head exploded into billions of stars.

"No, and I'm going to close it." I took the needle and threaded it slowly. Pain throbbed in my back, reminding me of my battle. Everything hurt. My face felt swollen and stiff, I felt sticky and gross, and I stank to high heaven. Weaving the needle over the orange flame, I laid the damp washcloth against my side and wiggled my jeans down until they touched my thighs, just beyond the waistband of my boyshorts.

Derek turned away, muttering under his breath like before, and Ramon knelt beside me, laying his jacket under my butt.

The sharp sting of the needle made me growl.

_Relax. Breathe. _

**Thanks. **

_Focus on my voice. _

And I did as I pushed the end of the needle through with my thumb. Blood dripped down my side, onto Ramon's jacket. He was looking at me closely, watching as I

He was looking at me closely, watching as I wove the needle in and out of my skin, wincing when I had to remove a stitch and redo it.

Derek was humming now, rocking.

"Take him to get some air," I told Simon softly. When I pressed my hand against Derek's arm, bare, he shot to his feet and wheeled, staring at me with horrified eyes.

_Monster. You're a monster. Don't touch me,_ his expression screamed and I lowered my eyes, unable to keep my lip from trembling just a tiny bit.

"All of you, go get—" My voice cracked and went shrill as blood gushed.

Liz buried her face in Tori's breasts.

I tried to remember how to intake oxygen. "—Some air."

Ramon wouldn't leave me, but Derek didn't hesitate to book it out of there.

Simon followed his brother quickly, Tori and Liz clinging to each other.

Ramon's short, black curls glinted off the moonlight as he handed me some medical tape when I finally knotted off the stitches. They were tight. Wouldn't get pulled hopefully.

When I began to have muscle twitches, he gently applied the tape. His hands were firm and hot, burning my cold, clammy skin. The bite of his warmth was welcome as I began to shiver, hugging my neck while he gently wound the gauzes around my sides. His nose brushed the clap of my bra but his eyes never trailed to any other parts of my body aside from my abdomen. For that, I was grateful.

"Thank you," I managed, hating how my voice broke again, but this time with tears.

He peeled off his flannel shirt and helped me into it, forcing me to lie down.

"Lay with me." My request was no more than a whisper.

He reclined slowly and surely, his legs tangled in mine, arms rubbing my back.

"You did good," he whispered in my ear as I pressed my face into his neck. He smelled like b.o. and dirt. So different than Derek. Derek, _my _Derek, the Derek who though of me as a monster, a big, scary monster.

I refused to let the tears fall and stained my cheeks. I wouldn't allow myself to cry for my Mate, who saw me as the monster in his nightmares.

Sleep yanked me under and I welcomed her with open arms, ready to slip away from the hell of the day, of being attacked and sewing myself up, of running away, of killing my mother.

Sometimes, sleep is all that can help.


	15. Chapter 15

Switched!

Fifteen

Halloween

* * *

October 30, 2010

3:00 AM

Saturday

* * *

When I woke up, my side was killing me. I peeked under the bandages and saw the bloody strips of skin, congealed blood.

The bandages were dark with clotted blood and smelled dingy and damp, like concrete and bloody teeth.

"It's healing up slowly. Werewolf-inflicted wounds don't heal as fast as normal ones." Ramon flopped down beside me, patting my leg and nudging me with the heel of his foot.

Tori and Liz were curled up against each other near the back of the storage unit.

Simon played with Ramon's lighter while he sat cross-legged on an upturned crate.

Derek was fast asleep on the ground a few feet away from us, snoring softly.

I thanked whatever deity that he was a quiet sleeper. "How are you?" I asked, squinting at Ramon's dingy face.

He looked up from examining my wound, the gauze unraveling slowly in his thin hands. "I'm good. I should be asking the girl who got bit that," he replied, unwinding the bandages. The skin was oozing blood still and big chunks of congealed, brown blood stuck to the fabric."Does it hurt?" His black eyes blinked up at me.

"What the hell do you think?"

"If she's swearing, she's fine," came Simon's quiet response from the far side of the unit.

"Touché, Harry," I said, curling my lips into a mock smile, and he rolled his eyes at the wizard slam.

"Crappy pun and we all know that," Ramon commented as he rubbed something into the wound gently.

"What is that?" It smelled citrusy and burned my skin.

"A salve for werewolf wounds."

I cocked a brow. "You just _happen _to keep it on you?"

He leaned back on his heels and stretched out his legs, squeezing a glob onto his fingers and setting it onto my arm.

I flinched at the icy temperature. "Don't sass me," he told me. "And before I was shipped off to Lyle House, Liam and I got into a lot of fights with other werewolves. This stuff came in handy."

I bared my teeth mockingly and rubbed the gel into the scratches on my arm.

"Werewolf-inflicted scars heal, but always leave scars."

"How am I going to explain _that _to my aunt? '_Oh, hey, Aunt Lauren, this? It's just from getting bitten from a pyscho wolf. No biggie_'."

Ramon's lips twitched as he started to laugh.

Simon snorted and accidentally woke up Derek.

Tori and Liz didn't so much as stir.

Derek stretched awake, cracking one eye open and then the next. He rolled over onto his side and pushed himself up slowly off the ground, his sweatshirt pooling around his waist since he'd used it as a blanket. His hair was sticking up and curled and he had this sleepy expression on his face, almost like a puppy that had just been woken up.

"And sleepy beauty is awake," Ramon snickered as Simon's shoe came flying off his foot when he kicked his leg, aimed at his head. He fell back laughing as the shoe missed him by inches and hit me right in the face.

There was a long silence before I picked up his shoe and said, calm as can be, "Your shoes smell like dog shit. I think you stepped in some."

Simon hopped off his crate and ran over. "No, not my shoes! I _just _bought them!" He looked completely horrified until he realized I was joking, and then he looked pissed beyond belief. "You do _not _play with a man's shoes, Chloe," he said to me, scrunching his face up as he took his shoe back, cramming it onto his foot.

"Are you _sure _you're a man?" Ramon asked with a laugh and Simon danced away to his crate again.

"Yes!" came Simon's indignant reply as he began to tie his shoe.

I watched them banter playfully before I noticed Derek's staring.

At first, I thought he was staring at Ramon, stalking mockingly towards his brother, but then I realized it was directed at me. He was wiping his hands on his jeans, anxiously shifting from side to side, like his feet had gone numb. His green eyes were huge and innocent, puppy-like, and he was all rumpled. His gaze never left me as I gently put on three bandages on my side and then taped them down with duct tape.

He went bright red and quickly looked away when I leaned down to get my shirt.

Pulling my arms through the long sleeves proved more painful than I thought it would be, the muscles in my shoulders pulling and stretching, sore. My back throbbed and I had the itching suspicion that it was covered in bruises from Liam's attack. "Hey, come here for a second," I called out to Derek and he froze, doing the perfect impression of a deer in the headlights.

He looked ready to pee himself as he shook his head, eyes round with terror, and then turned on his heel. For such a tall, muscular guy, he sure as hell could run. Maybe he was on a track team back home; he looked more like the football type though. Strong hands, broad shoulders, a good eye.

"What the hell is his problem?" Tori was awake now, rubbing her eyes.

Liz pressed her face into her girlfriend's balled up sweatshirt.

"Me, apparently." I pulled off my shirt slowly and turned to Simon, Ramon and Tori, showing off my back.

"Jesus, it's covered in bruises. Looks like someone took a paintball gun to you," Tori stated flatly.

Simon and Ramon stared at the bruises. "Okay." I wiggled back into my shirt and blinked hard a few times.

_The bruises will heal in a few days' time._ Nadia's whimsical voice echoed through my brain, flooding it with calm and tranquility.

"Okay," I said out loud. **Thanks.**

_I'm here to help you; I'm a part of you._

"What are going to do about the pyschos we just escaped?" I asked everyone.


	16. Chapter 16

Switched!

Sixteen

Run

* * *

October 30, 2010

3:15 AM

Saturday

* * *

Nobody breathed a word as I pressed the heel of my hands into my wound, feeling the nasty, sticky blood leaking through my bandages.

Simon ran his fingers through his hair, worrying his bottom lip.

Tori rested her cheek on his shoulder, her spiky hair knotted on one side.

Liz lay splayed out across Tori's legs, her corn-silk hair spilling around either side of her face.

Ramon was scratching in the dirt with a stick he'd found tangled in Liz's hair.

"What about the cops?" Liz asked, twirling a piece of twine off the collar of his shirt around her finger.

I shook my head.

"No. They…they've got them under their thumb," Derek said suddenly, looking up from rifling through a backpack. He hadn't spoken a word since yesterday, spending most of his time on watch.

Liz sat up suddenly. "Your aunt," she blurted, her eyes shining.

Tori chewed her lip.

"She…" I muttered, grabbing Ramon's shoulder to keep myself upright. He winced a little as my nails dug in, biting his skin. "I haven't spoken to her since she took me out that day," I admitted slowly, running my fingers through my hair absently.

"Why?" It was Simon who asked but my eyes were still locked on Derek's green ones as though he'd been the one speaking.

"She's been so busy with all the graveyard shifts she's been working, picking up lazy the employees' slack, that I would hate to bother her." A half-smile filled my face, though it came out more as a grimace than anything else, and Derek broke eye contact, looking back down into the open maw of the backpack he lugged around everywhere.

"We have Andrew, too," Simon said. "Andrew's our dad's friend," he explained to Ramon, who wore a confused look all over his face.

"We'll go to my aunt first," I told them and Ramon pressed fresh gauze over my wounded side, staunching the blood that ran down my hip. I struggled to my feet and Ramon wrapped the new bandages around my stomach.

"We should get going," he told me, glancing over his shoulder at Simon and motioning for him to look out while the rest of us got ready.

"Alright."

* * *

3:30 AM

* * *

We headed to the hospital on foot since none of us knew how to hotwire a car; however, halfway there I noticed the scent.

The overwhelming stench of bleach and cough medication and gunpowder.

"Shit," I hissed and grabbed Derek's sleeve, digging my fingers into his skin to keep from keeling over.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a huge, conspicuous black car with a man in a silver jacket and a woman with a flashlight getting out of the back.

"Split up. We'll meet you guys at St. Cloud Hospital," I told everyone. "We've got company."

"Try not to look too suspicious," Ramon added as an afterthought and he wrapped his arm around Simon, steering him towards a shadowy alley. He knew this city better than any of us could ever dream of so I felt no fear for them.

Tori linked arms with Liz and turned down a street, disappearing quickly into the darkness.

I heard the crackle of a radio.

"We've spotted them," said a man's voice and I broke into a run, ignoring the pain flaring up my side.

"W-what—" Derek sputtered as he matched my strides easily with his long legs, sliding his sweaty, huge hand into mine.

"Shit! We've been made!" the woman yelled and the car's tires screeched on the asphalt, burning as the driver tore down the street backwards.

Footsteps echoed behind us, like heavy, huge boots.

I yanked Derek along, shoving him in front of me because, even injured badly, I still ran faster than him.

He stumbled along clumsily, bumping into the edges of buildings and constantly tripping. The similarity to Isabella Swan's unbalanced equilibrium was uncanny and greatly hindering.

I looked over my shoulder to find the man holding something black out, using his free hand to steady the outstretched arm and I reacted entirely instinctually. My arms whipped out and wrapped around Derek's wide, muscular middle and I pushed with my toes, all my weight against his back.

He pitched forward and got a mouthful of gravel.

"Hey—"

A deafening gunshot shook my eardrums, threatening to blow them out, and he screamed very shrilly.

"Damn it," I hissed and rolled away, yanking Derek by his sweatshirt to his feet.

The projectile was sticking out of his backpack and I relaxed. It was just a tranquilizer dart, the feathers on the end shiny in the light.

We took off again and I led the way through the dimly lit backyard.

On the line of houses, it was silent. A few people were still up but didn't notice us.

My guess was that it was early morning, the sun just beginning to peak.

The chain-link fence we were flattened up against at the edge of someone's yard whined in protest as a pair of headlights threw shadows across the playhouse. Somewhere close by, a dog howled.

My side was blazing with pain by now, blood seeping through my shirt but the fabric was too dark to tell anyway.

Beside me, Derek struggled to catch his breath, sweat shining on his forehead and rivulets running down his temples; he was beet-red with exertion. "Where are we going?" I knew he was trying to keep his voice down but I winced at the volume of his supposed whisper.

I shook my head. "I don't know right now. All I know—"

A beam of light cut across the yard and a woman's figure emerged from the dark space between the houses. Radio interference crackled to life from the black box on her hip.

"Found them," she said.

I lurched forward, ignoring the pain in my side. When my hands connected with her chest, she slipped and hit the ground. We grappled with each other for a few minutes before my fist finally connected with her face. The crunch made me sick but she kept kicking and fighting so I kept punching her until she lay quiet. The rise and fall of her chest reassured me.

I took her radio and the flashlight and, as a last-minute act of kindness, I carried her to the edge of the side and laid her down, under the lamppost: in the light.

She'd be found, alive; injured, but alive.

I jogged back to Derek and we took off again. We got to an industry site, I suppose because of all the house skeletons and empty machinery, and a loud gunshot exploded. My arm stung like fire. I looked behind me to see the faint figures of people with guns and I shoved Derek under the bright blue tarp covering several huge, bulky pipes. Using my shoulder, I wedged him in as far as I could and rested my cheek against the cool concrete.

"Chloe, I think you're bleeding."

Something wet soaked my hip, my jeans, making the denim stick.

His breath, hot and damp and sour, hit my cheek as he laid his arm tentatively across the small of my back. His fingers touched my hipbone.

"No duh." There was no snark, no bite in my tone as his fingers touched the wound on my side.

"Like, you're really, _really _bleeding," he said, panic seeping into his voice.

"Your backpack," I managed, "It has some shirts, right?"

He shifted and then froze.

Footsteps thundered next to us, a burst of feedback from a radio, and then the murmur of voices.

My pulse drummed in my ears.

And then footsteps receded. Derek trembled next to me and I could feel my hands shaking as I pulled away the tarp. "

Come on," I whispered as he crawled out, army-style, and then crouched down to grab his backpack.

Just like that, we were on the run again.


	17. Chapter 17

Switched!

Seventeen

A Half-Way Stop

* * *

October 30, 2010

12:00 AM

Saturday

* * *

Sometime after we snuck onto a Greyhound bus in the countryside, far away from Buffalo, Derek fell asleep, my sweatshirt balled up against the window as a makeshift pillow.

I sat a few rows ahead of him, on the lookout for anyone from the Edison Group or worse, the cops. As long as I'd been here in New York, I'd never had a run-in with the cops, not even when the doctors first got me shipped to Lyle House. Now that we'd run into the Edison Group's goons, there was no guessing how far their reach went and I wasn't taking any chances on finding out.

The ride was quiet, the silence only broken by the occasional cry of a woman's baby and someone's loud chainsaw snoring, and it gave me time to reflect. Time to think, even though the throb in my side was by far distracting.

It seemed like a dream, the days that had passed by since we broke out of that yellow-walled hellhole.

There was a haze over those memories, the faint echo of agony ripping through my skin, bones cracking and grinding.

I remembered hitting Dr. Gil to the ground, hearing the thud, feeling the soft skin under my knees.

I remembered the air whizzing past my ear, too close for comfort, Derek yelping and stumbling after me with dim-seeing human eyes, struggling to keep up.

I remembered the fir as Liam sinking his teeth into my side, ripping into my skin, crunching through it.

I remembered the sting in my skin and the trembling of my hands as I sewed myself up, a makeshift Frankenstein, Ramon rubbing my back while I blinked away tears.

The memories washed over me, rolled into a huge wave, pulling me under.

I couldn't hear anything in reality.

My teeth tasted bloody in my mouth from where I hit the ground after being thrown by Liam.

My bones ached on the inside as they ground and cracked and stretched to mold me into something very wrong.

I closed my eyes and rested my sweaty forehead against the glass, grateful for the cool. It was a shock to my system, sure, but it was welcome; in fact, I embraced it with open arms. Despite the cold air conditioning, my skin was still crawling with a fever, sensitive to every brush of air against the fine little hairs.

The noise of the bus, the shrill screaming of the baby and snoring of the guy a few rows back, made my ears ring painfully, like when you sit in silence and all you hear is a faint ringing, a buzzing.

The countryside, horses and long fields of grass and little houses and people going about their normal day, rolled passed me as I stared out the window, watching the scenery. Sunlight beat down from a blue sky; it was silly how, on such a beautiful day, that I was running for my life.

* * *

7:30 PM

* * *

The bus drove well into the night, the summer heat creeping away, replaced by a cool breeze that did nothing to calm my fever.

The baby was gone with its mother when the sun was still up; the snoring man was now quietly speaking on the phone with someone.

There were about five or six people on the bus, including the two Supernatural Americans on the run.

No one noticed when I shook Derek awake (he looked particularly cute with his sleepy eyes and half-up hair) and climbed off the bus somewhere outside of Buffalo, in a little quant town that would've looked normal in a Disney movie. I really wouldn't have been surprised if someone burst into song, complete with a musical number.

Speaking of the necromancer, he was stumbling along beside me, dragging his feet as he yawned over and over, obvious not quite awake. His backpack, bulky with our supplies, swung aimlessly from my shoulders, bumping into my back with every stride; although, unlike in Buffalo, I didn't have to worry about someone trying to snatch it; there weren't a lot of people awake at—I squinted into a little café to read the time—nearly eight-thirty at night. Had we really been on the bus that long?

_What did I miss?_ Nadia asked sleepily.

I rolled my eyes and pressed open the door to the café, cozy with reading nooks and college kids cramming and sleepy-eyed workers and big, red armchairs that looked heavenly.

**Now you show up. Gee, thanks, **I teased and she barked a laugh.

_I only show up when we're with the cutie. _"Money's in the front pocket of the backpack." I peeled out of my sweatshirt and touched my side tentatively; it came away dry, flakey. Just in case, I picked up another equally-dark shirt and hid my first aid kit under my sweatshirt on the way to the toilet.

Thankfully, it was one of those one at a time bathrooms so I locked the door behind me, peed, washed my hands, and then got to work. I wiggled off my shirt with as least movement as possible.

The bandages were soaked and bloody, sopping wet.

Looking at it made me dizzy but now really wasn't the time for queasiness, I told myself as I picked off a few pieces with a hiss. With a wet paper towel and a bit of soap, the dry pieces of gauze that were sticking around the wound came off easily. My stitches were fine, thank God, so I put on some of that citrus ointment on generously and wrapped the bandages around, taping it off.

Making sure to hide the evidence at the very bottom of the trashcan with lots of wet paper towels over it, I pulled on the clean shirt with a little bit of a tender ache in my side and then my sweatshirt. The first aid kit fit in the back of my pants, so that's where I stuck it. Frustrated with my hair, I settled for putting it up in a water in hands damp bun. I looked better, not quite as flushed, and I didn't feel too feverish.

There was a group of teenagers behind Derek, who had our breakfast in a bag with his head down, fiddling with his drink.

At first, it didn't register that there was anything wrong. I figured he was just trying not to nod off. And then I noticed the kids' comments, the open stares.

When I got to the table, I slid the first aid kit back into the bag. Without looking up, Derek mumbled, in a tiny voice, "I'm sorry." His cheeks were red as apples and his eyes were glossy, threatening a few tears.

"Looking for guys a psych ward?" one of the kids behind him asked loudly, peering at us.

Derek ducked his head down, chin touching his chest.

"You must've been really desperate." His buddies burst into hysterical peals of laughter.

I cracked my fingers.

"Please, c-can we j-just…" There was a weakness in Derek's begging that tugged at my heart.

_Lemme at 'em, _Nadia panted, pacing up and down, ready for a fight, bristled up.

I shook my head.

"Derek, what happened?"

He wouldn't look at me. "T-there was a lady…talked to me…didn't understand." And then he lifted his head, with one of the college kids behind him making devil horns, and mouthed, 'Ghost.'

Immediately, the situation was painfully clear. Derek had been approached by a ghost, so he talked to it. Of course, no one else here was one of us, so all they saw was a big, awkward guy talking to the air.

Adults snuck long looks at us as Derek gathered up the cups and I carried the bag and backpack.

"Try not to find any more weirdos!" one of the kids laughed.

I lurched forward, smirked when some of flinched, shot the adults staring at us a dark glower, and then turned and breezed out the door after Derek.

Once we weren't in eyesight of them, he handed me a donut and said, his voice small, "Y-you didn't h-have to d-do that."

"I know."

We didn't say anything else after that on the long, long walk to the next bus station.


	18. Chapter 18

Switched!

Eighteen

Pit Stop

* * *

October 31, 2010

5:00 PM

Sunday

* * *

Our next ride was cut short because, as we neared a down-trodden cluster of forest on a secluded road, I felt a spasm roll up my arm.

_Shit, _I thought as I scrambled out of my seat, into the aisle; a few passengers gave me a weird looks. "Derek," I hissed, grabbing him by the shoulder sharply to wake him.

He jerked up-right immediately, his glassy eyes focusing on my face in a nanoseconds.

**He's so cute! **

_Shut up! Now isn't the time. _

"What's wrong?" he mumbled, wiping the sleep out of his eyes as he yawned.

Another spasm nearly buckled my leg; I ground my teeth. "That time," I managed to squeak out passed a tremor that almost had me bite my tongue into two pieces.

It took him all but two painfully long minutes to piece what I'd just told him together, coupled with my clammy complexion and red-rimmed eyes, and he bolted upright, clutching the seat to stay on his feet.

The bus-driver and the other passengers weren't too pleased when I pulled the emergency break, but a quick explanation from me, which consisted of "I might vomit", and they quickly let go of their anger.

I'd barely hit the tree line when I fell to my knees and puked all over the bushes; convulsion after convulsion rocked me back and forth, squeezing anything I'd eaten—which, admittedly, was probably just that donut from earlier—from my stomach with each wave. Tears spilled down my cheeks as I dry-heaved, the hoarse, dry retching reaching my ears above the blood rushing in my eardrums.

A hand touched my back, right between my shoulder blades, as the bones in my right hand crunched, fireworks of pain fissuring inside my arm.

"Is she alright?" the bus-driver called, swinging his flashlight towards us.

I crawled into the bushes for more cover.

"Y-yeah. J-just wait here, Chloe; I'll g-go grab our stuff." It was Derek, I realized, who'd touched my shoulders.

Another set of spasms, too close to brace myself between the waves, knocked me onto my elbows, scraping my chin on the floor; I smelled the earth and it soothed Nadia.

_Isn't this nice? Oh, it smells like home, doesn't it? So nice and fresh, it really calms the stomach_**. **Just as she finished saying this, I heard Derek say, "Thank you!" and a pair of headlights swept across where I lay, lighting up the leaves and the woods and Derek's figure. I wanted to scream, but a convulsion, this one by far the most fierce, gripped me and I reared backwards, bones popping and crackling horribly, squeezing me down into another shape entirely.

"Shit," Derek hissed as he dropped his things—a bag, our jackets, and a couple of grocery bags we hadn't had before—and crouched down beside me.

Something in my back crunched and I let out a shrill, high noise that was cut off in a dry heave, tearing my throat apart.

"Sh," he whispered, pressing his hand against my back, rubbing in gentle circles.

Convulsion after convulsion rocked me, and my bones cracked and broke and rearranged themselves with sickening grinding noises that made my eyes brim with tears. Mucus ran down my face, mixed with tears and sweat, and I'm pretty sure if Derek had _any _romantic inclination towards me, he sure as hell didn't now.

When the tremors stopped, I sagged to the forest floor, pressing my cheek against the cool, damp leaves, my limbs sprawled out in every direction possible.

Heat billowed off me, seeping out of the shredded clothes I had. Every time I did this(whatever they were, test runs I guess), it hurt more and more, and I hated it with a burning passion; if this was what being a werewolf meant—not the glorious, growth-spurt, easy to Phase Twilight kind—then I'd rather be a weak, scared necromancer.

I was barely even aware of my nudity until Derek draped his hoodie across me, the fabric nearly swallowing me whole. I frowned. "Too…" My voice cracked in the middle of the word. "…hot."

He turned away while I struggled out of the fabric and pressed myself flat against the cool ground, the cold bleeding into the heat of my skin, my sore muscles aching.

"T-that's not, uh, ap-appropriate," he squeaked behind me, rustling through a bag nearby.

"Lemme cool down," I argued, beyond caring about my dignity at this point as I stretched out across the ground; my skin was so hot, it hurt to even touch something with a temperature lower than mine.

Derek started humming as I closed my eyes and started to drift off, too exhausted from yet another failed Phasing.

He had a decent voice, I suppose, a bit pitchy but all together pleasant regardless. He repeated the bars over and over, a song I was faintly familiar with, and pulled a cool raincoat over me.

When I opened my eyes to look down, all I saw was crinkly, cheap plastic, the kind they use for tarps.

Satisfied with my fashion sense, he sat down next to me and chattered through a short verse of whatever song he was singing.

I grabbed his ankle, felt the metal-cold skin, and he yelped in surprise, knocking himself off balance. Swallowing a laugh so as not to bruise his dignity, I pulled my arms into the coat sleeves and buttoned it; the fabric cut to my knees.

Without a word, I tugged him close, right up against me, and he went red, rivaling a strawberry.

He sputtered and squeaked and tried to pull away but I lifted my lip at him in a very wolfish manner, and said, "You're shivering, so you're cold. I have too much body heat right now, so you can use it."

It apparently made sense to him, because he quit struggling and gradually relaxed against me, using my good side as a pillow to lay on once I let go of his bicep.

"What are you singing? A yawn broke the words into choppy syllables as my eyelids slowly closed.

He stilled for a second before answering, in a whisper, "Daydream Believer."

"You suck at singing."

His laugh, chattering teeth and all, was the last thing I heard.


	19. Chapter 19

Switched!

Nineteen

Park

* * *

November 1, 2010

7:30 AM

Monday

* * *

I woke with a jolt, my heart galloping painfully in my chest as my nightmare evaporated. As I lay there, motionless, flashes of yesterday filled my brain—stumbling off the bus—Derek's warm hand on my spine as the convulsions crushed my organs—the hot, wet smell of the vomit that I'd sprayed the bushes with—his comforting weight on my side, now absent.

_Where's Derek? _Pushing myself to my elbows, I scanned my surroundings and saw him crouched away from me, his back to me. Relief flooded through my entire being as I got to my feet, shaking the leaves and mulch out of my hair; the tarp-coat crinkled loudly but he didn't even turn my way.

It took me a few seconds to realize he was still, aside from the slow up-and-down of his shoulders, the slight rocking of his body.

I dropped to my knees and nudged him gently. "Derek?" I asked, and winced at the sound of my gravelly voice.

No answer.

"Derek?"

I pushed him this time, firmer, and he jerked away, a scream escaping his gaping mouth. Glassy eyes, wide with horror and shock, darted around frantically, searching for some threat, and then they closed, the

Glassy eyes, wide with horror and shock, darted around frantically, searching for some threat, and then they closed, lids twitching.

"S-sorry," he whispered, his voice quivering; his lips trembled. When he opened his eyes, they were still glossy, and he wouldn't look at me.

It was like a slap to the face. Of _course _he'd be freaked out. Here I was, something mythical and unnatural, and I thought he didn't care about having found out that werewolves were real. He'd seen me, body twisting and bones crunching, molding me into my wolf skin; it was ugly and brutal and probably the most disgusting thing he'd ever seen. If I was in his place, seeing his body twist into a wolf, I'd be hyperventilating.

Here I was, something mythical and unnatural, and I thought he didn't care about having found out that werewolves were real. He'd seen me, body twisting and bones crunching, molding me into my wolf skin; it was ugly and brutal and probably the most disgusting thing he'd ever seen. If I was in his place, seeing his body twist into a wolf, I'd be hyperventilating.

My jaw ached with how tightly it was clenched.

"Look," I hissed, low and biting, "if it's about last night, I won't ask you to stay. I know it's sick and disgusting." It took a monumental effort to keep my face calm when all I wanted to do was burst into tears. "Let's just get going and I won't bother you—"

He jumped to his feet, lurching into my face. "No, no, it's not you! I-I…saw something. A-a memory, maybe. A girl…she got killed. It was replaying." His jaw was taut as he waved his hand behind him, in a vague direction. "It wasn't real—well, it was once."

"Like a ghostly residue?" I couldn't help but ask, my curiosity getting the better of me.

His pale face tilted towards me, shy. "I-I guess," he murmured, running his quivering hands along his jeans, leaving wet streaks on the denim. His eyes were unfocused, his mouth slack.

"Let's go grab a bite." My head spun when I stood too quickly, which was a bad idea because my legs were still gelatinous and I nearly lost my balance.

Derek tensed, ready to catch me if I fell.

"That's stupid. Next time, wake me up. I don't want to be a drill Sargeant for you." Scowing, I walked to the shallow alcove and snatched up my backpack on the walk over. Once there, I crouched down and used a semi-clean sock to wipe a bit of sweat off my sticky, dirt-streaked skin. Sighing to myself, I wiggled into some clean panties and a sports bra; while I rooted around for t-shirt in jeans and flip-flops, I heard Derek humming off-key to himself.

Yanking the faded shirt over my head, I headed out of the alcove. "I think I saw a little café a while back," I stated absently as I spotted him.

"I don't think I can eat," he muttered, wiping a hand down his face while he slung a backpack strap over his shoulder.

I back-tracked my previous statement. "We can see if we can catch a ride," I said.

He nodded and shoved on his sneakers.

* * *

8:00 PM

* * *

As the afternoon drained into sapphire dusk, we walked aimlessly, passing liens of strip-malls and tiny house developments.

My side stung and we had to stop a few times so I could change the bandages, shoving the dirty ones at the bottom of public trashcans, tied off in a plastic bag.

"I've really gotta stop," I panted as I struggled to stay upright against the slide in the park we'd decided to cut across.

As I lifted my head to breath and stare at the stars, a scent that rose the hair on my neck wafted up. Musky and hot, like baked concrete ad fur. "Shit, shit, shit," I hissed, grabbed Derek's arm to steer him away from the lengthening shadows, and began to push him towards the opening, towards the safety of the streetlights.

"Ah, ah, ah," a low, rumbling voice snarled and two pairs of glittering eyes sauntered forward.

Derek shuddered in my arms. His voice was so soft, tiny with fear, that I almost missed what he said. "Werewolves."

"Right-O! Give the boy a prize!" Liam laughed as he lurched into light, his hair just as greasy as I remembered. His face was covered in bruises, his nose swollen and he had a black eye.

I didn't recognize the other person, a tall, dark-haired man who looked insanely familiar. He was pale like bone-China, and broad, muscular; in contrast to his skin, not unlike Snow White, his hair was black as ink and his eyes are bright and green as emeralds. I lifted my head to smell his scent and froze, all blood in my veins turning to ice.

"How nice of you to bring my son to me," the man purred.

Liam laughed.

"Son?" I choked, my brain slowly making the connection.

_Keep away from our Derek! _Nadia snarled, bristling inside my mind.

My stomach twisted as I stared at Derek, and then at the man.

"Not werewolves," I said to Derek in a rush of air. "Just _one_."

"But—" he began, pulling away from my embrace, but I wrapped an arm around his waist and yanked him against me. On its own accord, a snarl rumbled out of me, deeper than anything I'd ever heard, and it only got louder when Liam took a step closer to me.

"Look at that, Zach! Looks like she thinks she's found a mate!" He laughed like a dumbass.

Zach's cool eyes bounced between me and Derek, his expression twisted and calculating, and then he smiled.

In the daytime, maybe around people, he could've been considered handsome but right now, in this dark playground with no one around, it sent chills down my spine.

Derek broke my grasp and started forward.

I caught the back of his wrist and pulled him back to me.

Shooting me a glare, he demanded, "Who are you?"

Liam snorted and shook his hair, pushing it out of his face.

"Can't you tell? Look at me, at you, don't you see the resemblance?" Zach waved a hand down his physique.

**Don't listen to him! He's not—**I screamed inside, quivering when realization dawned in Derek's beautiful green eyes.

_I smell him on Derek. He is. You can lie all you want but the nose knows, _Nadia said.

"Dad?" Derek asked.

"The one and only Zachary Cain at your service!"


	20. Chapter 20

Switched!

Twenty

Daddy

* * *

November 1, 2010

8:15 PM

Monday

* * *

"You look like your old man," Liam laughed, squinting at Derek while he cocked his head to his side.

Nadia snarled, bristling at the way the other wolf was looking at our Mate. For once, I agreed with her. Knowing Liam, he'd probably dissect Derek just for the hell of it.

"Shut up," I hissed stiffly, feeling my lips peel away from my teeth.

For a second, Liam looked startled at my reaction as I dropped into a defensive crouch in front of Derek, but then he started to laugh, loud and braying, high-pitched, like it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen.

Zachary Cain looked startled at Liam's outburst but one look at our faces had him relaxing. "You must be Jennifer's little girl. Those eyes, those curls…" he trailed, a smile stretching from cheek-to-cheek as he stepped close, so close that I could smell his expensive cologne and sweat; underneath all of that cologne, underneath the sweat, was the reek of death, of decaying flesh, of rotten meat and blood.

If I sifted long enough, underneath Derek's scent, was the same necromancy smell.

"W-who's Jennifer?" Derek asked beside me, his eyes big and reflecting the street lights.

All of us froze as a pair of car headlights cut across us, but the sound of the engine drifted down the street.

"Jennifer is her mother," Zachary said.

"_Was,_" I pointed out tightly. "Remember? I killed her." Pulling my lips again away from my teeth, I bared them in a snarl.

Derek sputtered. "I-I th-thought it was a rumor!" He lifted his hands to my shoulder, pulling me backwards, but I shook him off.

"A rumor?" Zachary laughed, throwing his head back, "no, no. I thought you were smarter than your stupid brother."

"S-Simon?" my Mate squeaked, his eyes widening comically; under the streetlights, he looked paler than ashes. "What does h-he ha-ave to do wi-ith anyth-thing? With m-me?"

Liam hummed brokenly and I dropped into a crouch, snarling at him as he shuffled closer, hands in his pockets. His grey eyes gleamed and glittered in the faint light of the streetlights, reflecting them back. He pulled his lips backed, flashing long canines, and licked his cracked lips, wiggling his tongue at us.

Zachary glanced at him casually, like someone had called his name, and with a strange hand gesture, Liam lurched forward.

"Chloe!" Derek screamed as I met Liam's lunge tooth for tooth.

Liam pushed me back until I hit the wall, smacking my head on it. Using it to my advantage, I pushed with my feet and we went tumbling away, towards Zachary and Derek, who was running back and forth like a chicken with his head cut off. That moron had a knife as if he thought it would help.

My side ached and I could feel fresh bursts of blood drip down my side, soak my shirt, but I couldn't stop fighting with Liam for even a second. If I did, I was certain he'd go after Derek.

He threw his head back once we landed, him under me, and howled. Maybe he did it to distract me, maybe because he was crazy, but either way, my attention diverted away. The minute my focus shifted, he head-butted me.

Sparks exploded behind my eyes and he took advantage of my disorientation to drive his fingers into my side, where the blood was still gushing down my hip. I gasped in shock and white-hot pain ran down my spine, squeezing my lungs. While I was in shock, he cupped my neck and pushed me off of him with very little strength. I skidded, rubbing my face raw and the left side of my arm.

"You're just a bitch," he keened, leaning over me as he kicked me hard in my chest. A loud crack made my head spin and I couldn't even get the air in my lungs to scream as he pinned me down and leered down at me, his eyes wild and glossy. Blood ran down his face, streaming into his eyes. He pulled his fist back and let it sail down, into my face.

Pain lanced all over my face as I heard the _crunch _of my nose breaking. Blood leaked down my throat, making me choke and gag. I sputtered and gasped for breath, kicking my legs as fiercely as I could.

His fist hit me again and again and _again_. Pain on top of pain on top of pain layered over me, blinding, hot, choking me. More blood ran down my cheeks, my temples, dripping down my throat, filling it up.

"_Just a bitch! Just a bitch! Just a bitch!" _he chanted over and over, laughing hysterically.

In a burst of rage, I placed my hands on his chest, wedged my knees between my stomach and his, and shoved hard. My ribs protested screaming, but I ignored it. He went sailing away from me, into the air and crashed back down a few feet away from me.

"You're just a bitch," I sneered back and tackled him, sending my fist into his side, where his scar was, and he howled. We rolled around and I smashed his face into the ground, snarling.

"Now, now," Zachary called to us calmly, amusement in his voice.

I wrapped both hands around Liam's fat head and threw it down, bashing his head into the ground, again and again. Blood ran down his scalp as he clawed at my face, his nails ripping lines into my skin. I pulled away and he slugged me hard in the stomach; I hissed, struggling to breathe.

"_Chloe!" _Zachary barked and Liam scuttled away, panting heavily as blood dripped out of the corners of his mouth. He smiled at me—more like bared his teeth at me—and I saw all the blood on his teeth.

_"Enough! _Liam, come." Derek's father snapped his fingers and pointed at his feet. Like a kicked dog, Liam crawled towards him and crouched between Derek and Zachary.

My side was gushing blood down my side and I could feel my nose swelling. My entire mouth tasted like blood, hot and fuzzy, and winced as I cradled my sides, trying to breathe.

"Chloe," Derek whimpered softly and hurried to me.

I forced myself to remain upright and lifted my chin to meet Zachary Cain's eyes, the same color of Derek's, only darker.


	21. Chapter 21

Switched!

Twenty-One

Fight

* * *

November 1, 2010

8:20 PM

Monday

* * *

"What do you want with us?" I snarled, edging Derek behind me with one hand. Hot blood seeped down my side, down my pant-leg, and the overwhelming metallic smell made me dizzy but I refused to show even a sliver amount of weakness in front of Zachary and Liam; the minute I did, Liam would surely go after Derek.

"Nothing too bothersome," Zachary crooned, leaning back against the brick wall behind him. "Just my son." His eyes stared expectantly at us, as though he was expecting me to hand over my mate, no questions ask.

The growl that tore through was all beast as I shoved Derek back further, my eyes locked on Zachary's smug smile. I could feel my lips pulling back and baring my teeth. "No," I hissed as Liam lunged out of the shadows for the second time.

I threw Derek away from me, watching him roll towards the entrance, and felt Liam's sharp weight hit my chest. I landed hard, knocking the breath out of me, as Liam fingers wrapped around my neck, squeezing.

"Chloe!" my mate screamed hysterically as Liam lunged out of the shadows for the second time.

I threw Derek away from me, watching him roll towards the entrance, and felt Liam's sharp weight hit my chest. I landed hard, knocking the breath out of me, as Liam's fingers wrapped around my neck, squeezing.

"Chloe!" Derek yelled again as I managed to wedge my knees against Liam's chest and push. He rolled backwards, snarling as I got to all fours and launched myself at him. To say I was mad was an understatement. I was _livid._ Not only had my mate's psychotic father basically demanded him over like an object, he'd had his lackey come at Derek and me. He had the nerve to attack not only me but _Derek. _

I heard the crack as Liam's head hit the pavement below and I could hear the vicious snarls coming out of me, wild and untamed, and all I saw was red. Every punch I landed drew arcs of sweet blood and I wanted to see Liam's brains splattered. He was struggling as hard as he could, his nails raking my face with millions of scratches, hitting my side, digging his nails into my bad arm, even ripping out my hair like this was a cat-fight, but, if he made contact, I didn't feel one bit of pain. All I wanted was blood.

_Kill, kill, kill, _Nadia chanted viciously, frothing at the mouth.

"Chloe, stop!" A pair of warm arms wrapped around my abdomen, just below my breasts, and the aroma of fresh soap and damp soil assaulted me.

_Mate_, my wolf crooned, immediately sated by him scent.

**Derek. **His name trickled through my thoughts like a stream. The red haze melted away and the overpowering stench of blood filled my lungs.

I gagged. I was by no means squeamish but it smelled like I had hit an artery.

Blood ran down the sides of Liam's face from his swelling nose and several teeth were missing; the rest of his face was decorated with cuts and scratches and red marks that would undoubtedly form bruises later.

The arms across my stomach tugged unsuccessfully, but it pulled my head out of the blood-lust clouds.

**Derek. **I twisted my head to look back at him but he wasn't looking down; he was pale, more so than usual, and he looked sickly. I quickly realized I was still sitting on Liam so I pushed myself to my feet, ignoring the wetness on my hands, and backed up, Derek releasing me the minute I started to move. I couldn't say I blamed him.

"Young pups are always so volatile but I don't think I've been able to witness such brutality in person. Exquisite, if I must say so myself," Zachary mused.

I whipped back around, feeling shaky probably from the crash of adrenaline, and was staggered by the iron-hot pain all over me. My face was stinging from the scratches and my head felt like hair had been ripped from my scalp none too delicately; my arm was boiling from both road rash and from where Liam's nails had reopened my wound, but that was nothing compared to the branding-iron hot poker that was my side wound, blood steadily seeping across my side and dripping down my hip.

My lips pulled back on their own accord, snarls rumbling out of me, deep from inside my chest. "Leave us alone," I growled, tasting the blood that was running down my face and into my mouth.

"Chloe," Derek whispered in my ear, tugging on my sleeve, "_please _we should—"

Zachary strode forward and I tensed, shoving Derek back behind me again, my snarling shifting into deeper growls. My side was on fire, but I pushed the pain to the back of my mind. "I only want what is mine," Zachary said flatly.

"No!" I spat, letting the bloodied spittle fly from my mouth and onto his shoe.

He paused, stared down at his shoe, and then, faster than I could react, threw his foot out, hitting me square in the face.

I was thrown backwards, tumbling with Derek over and over until we stopped, just inside the entrance. My face throbbed and felt too hot as I lay there, panting heavily while I attempted to get my bearings. "Derek," I managed to rasp out, "run."

"No. I _won't _leave you alone," he told me fiercely as he crawled to his feet.

From my position on the ground, I could smell the sharp tang of his blood and craned my neck to look him over for scrapes or cuts. There was a wide hole in his jeans along his thigh, revealing ragged skin and there was a long cut along one cheek. Something gleamed in his fist but it was too dark for me to make out what it was.

"Don't come any closer," my mate advised as he stood in front of me, widening his stance.

Zachary simply smiled.


End file.
